Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: biography, interesting facts, creativity. Great Russian composers: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Personal life of Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (April 25 (May 7), 1840, in the village at the Kama-Votkinsk plant, Vyatka province, now the city of Votkinsk, Udmurtia - October 25 (November 6), 1893, St. Petersburg) - a great Russian composer, one of the best melodists, conductor, teacher, musical and public figure. Father - Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky (1795 - 1880).
He graduated from the School of Law in St. Petersburg (1859), served in the Ministry of Justice (until 1863). From 1861 he studied in the Music classes of the Russian Musical Society (RMS), transformed in 1862 into the St. Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865 in the composition class of A. G. Rubinstein. In 1866–78 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory (classes of free composition, theory, harmony and instrumentation).
Tchaikovsky actively participated in the musical life of Moscow, his works were published and performed here, and the main genres of creativity were determined. The result of their acquaintance in 1868 and creative contacts with members of the “Mighty Handful” was the creation of program symphonic works (on the advice of M. A. Balakirev, the overture-fantasy Romeo and Juliet (1869), the Manfred symphony (1885) was written; V. V. Stasov suggested to Tchaikovsky the idea for the fantasy symphony “The Tempest” (1873).
Creativity of the 70s. distinguished by the intensity of quests and the diversity of artistic interests. In con. 70s Tchaikovsky experienced a severe mental crisis caused by overstrain of creative forces, as well as circumstances of his personal life. For several years he lived mainly abroad (mainly in Switzerland and Italy). During these years, material support and correspondence (1876–90) with N. F. von Meck were important for Tchaikovsky. All R. 80s Tchaikovsky returned to active musical and social activities. In 1885 he was elected director of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, and contributed to raising the level of musical culture in Moscow. From 1885 he lived constantly in the Moscow region - in the vicinity of the city of Klin (Maidanovo, Frolovskoye), from 1892 - in Klin itself, where after the death of the composer a memorial house-museum was opened. Since the late 1880s. He performed extensively as a conductor in Russia and abroad. Concert trips strengthened Tchaikovsky's creative and friendly ties with Western European musicians (Hans von Bülow, Edvard Grieg, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, Arthur Nikisch, Camille Saint-Saëns, etc.).
Creation
Almost all musical genres are represented in Tchaikovsky's work, in which opera and symphony were leading. The music reflected the deep social and ethical conflicts born of Russian reality in the 2nd half. 19th century. There is a noticeable increase in the tragic principle in the works of recent years (especially in the opera The Queen of Spades and the 6th Symphony). The content of Tchaikovsky's music is universal: it covers images of life and death, love, nature, childhood, everyday life, it reveals in a new way the works of Russian and world literature - A. S. Pushkin and N. V. Gogol, Shakespeare and Dante. Tchaikovsky's music reveals deep connections with the work of L.N. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, I. S. Turgenev, A. P. Chekhov. In Tchaikovsky's music, deep processes of spiritual life, doubt, despair and the impulse towards the ideal were realized.
Interesting Facts
* In 1890, Tchaikovsky wrote sketches in his notebook for the “Queen of Spades” he was composing. And on one piece of paper, written down in hasty handwriting, is obviously the theme (melody) he just invented, which is played by the violins at the very beginning of the fourth scene - “The Countess’s Bedroom.” This is one of the best places in the opera. Tchaikovsky wrote down the beginning of this melody in a book and added: “and similar erotic whining...”
Major works
Voivode (1868)
Ondine (1869)
Oprichnik (1872)
Evgeny Onegin (1878)
The Maid of Orleans (1879)
Mazepa (1883)
Cherevichki (1885)
The Enchantress (1887)
Queen of Spades (1891)
Iolanta (1891)
Swan Lake (1876)
Sleeping Beauty (1889)
The Nutcracker (1892)
Symphonic works
"The Thunderstorm", overture to a drama (1864)
Symphony No. 1 “Winter Dreams” (1866)
"Fatum", symphonic fantasy (1868)
Symphony No. 2 (1872)
Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra (1875)
Symphony No. 3 (1875)
"Francesca da Rimini", symphonic fantasy (1876)
Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra (1878)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1878)
Symphony No. 4 (1878)
"1812", solemn overture (1880)
"Romeo and Juliet", fantasy overture (1869, 1870, 1880)
Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra (1880)
"Manfred", symphony (1885)
Pezzo capriccioso (1887)
Symphony No. 5 (1888)
Concerto No. 3 for piano and orchestra (1893)
Symphony No. 6 (1893)
Piano music
"The Seasons" Op.37b, 12 characteristic scenes (1876)
Children's Album Op.39, 24 easy pieces (1878)
18 pieces, Op.72 (1892)
Selected orchestral works
Slavic March (1876)
March of the Voluntary Fleet (1878)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky known as one of the greatest composers not only in Russia, but throughout the world. During his 53 years of life, he wrote more than 80 pieces of music, including 10 operas and 3 ballets.
Brief biography of the composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born May 7, 1840 in the Vyatka province of the Russian Empire (the modern city of Votkinsk in Udmurtia). His father - Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, outstanding Russian engineer. Mother - Alexandra Andreevna Assier, the daughter of a major customs official who was originally from France.
Pyotr Ilyich's parents loved music. His mother played the piano and sang; there was a mechanical organ in the house - an orchestra, performed by little Peter for the first time. "Don Giovanni" by Mozart. While the family lived in Votkinsk, they often heard melodic folk songs of factory workers and peasants in the evenings.
Tchaikovsky's childhood
The sensitivity of Pyotr Ilyich’s nature manifested itself in early childhood. The French governess Fanny Durbach, whom he adored, immediately noticed a gentle soul in the 7-year-old boy, craving for everything beautiful. She opened up the world of art to him and talked about the lives of composers.
In my parents' house in Votkinsk there was a mechanical organ. Rollers with hooks were inserted into it, a spring was wound up, and excerpts from popular operas by Rossini, Bellini, and Mozart were played in the room.
Little Petya listened to the orchestra for hours. Fanny more than once found the boy in tears. Secretly from the adults, he sat down at the piano and repeated what he heard from memory.
Studies
In 1849 the family moved to the city of Alapaevsk, and in 1850 - in Saint-Petersburg. There, his parents sent Tchaikovsky to the Imperial School of Law, located near the street now named after the composer.
Tchaikovsky spent 2 years abroad, 1300 km from his home, since the age for entering the school was 12 years old. For Tchaikovsky, separation from his mother was a very strong mental trauma. In 1852, having entered the school, he started taking music seriously, which was taught optionally.
Tchaikovsky was known as a good pianist and improvised well. From the age of 16 he began to pay more attention to music, studying with a famous teacher Luigi Piccioli. Then he became the mentor of the future composer Rudolf Kündinger.
After graduating from college in 1859, Tchaikovsky received the rank titular councilor and began working at the Ministry of Justice. In his free time, he visited the opera house, where he was greatly impressed by productions of operas by Mozart and Glinka.
Musical activity of Pyotr Ilyich
In 1862 Pyotr Ilyich left his career as a lawyer and entered the composition class at the conservatory Anton Rubinstein. He graduated from the course with a gold medal and soon moved to Moscow, becoming a professor at the newly opened conservatory.
After the first performance of a cantata he composed on an ode by Friedrich Schiller "To Joy" fame and success came to him. Critics noted that an unusually talented composer had appeared in Russia. Next Tchaikovsky wrote his first symphony “Winter Dreams”.
In 1868, Tchaikovsky unexpectedly fell in love with an Italian opera singer. Desiree Artaud, touring in Russia. He dedicated a piano romance to her and proposed. But the marriage did not take place for various reasons. Desiree left Russia, and Tchaikovsky remained upset.
Musical works
Writing music saved the composer from the torment of unrequited love. He created a fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet", followed by a symphonic fantasy "Storm" according to Shakespeare, "Francesca da Rimini" based on Dante's Divine Comedy.
In 1875, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky began working on a ballet "Swan Lake", which premiered 2 years later at the Bolshoi Theater with great success. He continued to create fairy tales and bizarre fantasies in the world, wrote new ballets - "Sleeping Beauty", "Nutcracker".
The 70s of the 19th century in the work of Tchaikovsky - period of creative quest. He is attracted by the historical past of Russia, Russian folk life, and the theme of human destiny. At this time he writes works such as operas "Oprichnik" And "Blacksmith Vakula", music for Ostrovsky’s drama “The Snow Maiden”.
Personal life
Tchaikovsky's work was accompanied by success, which could not be said about his personal life. He did something reckless and married a girl completely alien to him in spirit, far from his music. He himself didn’t know why he did it. New experiences began. To escape his wife, he went abroad, then left the conservatory. He was looking for a way to himself. And I didn’t find it.
In 1876, Tchaikovsky began corresponding with another strange woman - wealthy philanthropist Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck, a widow, mother of 18 children, 10 years older than him. She encouraged the composer’s creativity and supported him financially, but they never met, although both lived in Moscow.
last years of life
Until the end of his life, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed operas and symphonies, and traveled to other countries with concerts. His music sounded throughout the civilized world. In the last months of his life he created 6th “Pathetique Symphony”. It turned out to be his will.
Pyotr Ilyich died November 6, 1893 at the age of 53 from cholera. All expenses for the burial of the great composer were borne by the emperor himself, Alexander III. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in the Necropolis of Art Masters.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Born April 25 (May 7), 1840 in Votkinsk, Vyatka province, Russian Empire - died October 25 (November 6), 1893 in St. Petersburg. Russian composer, conductor, teacher, musical and public figure, music journalist.
Considered one of the greatest composers in the history of music.
His concertos and other works for piano, seven symphonies (six numbered and the “Manfred” symphony), four suites, program symphonic music, ballets “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Nutcracker”, more than 100 romances represent an extremely valuable contribution to world musical culture.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in a village near the Kama-Votkinsk plant in the Vyatka province (now the city of Votkinsk, Udmurtia).
His father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky (1795-1880), an outstanding Russian engineer, was the son of Pyotr Fedorovich Chaika, who was born in 1745 in the village of Nikolaevka, Poltava regiment, near Poltava.
Tchaikovsky came from the Orthodox gentry of the Kremenchug district and was a descendant of the Cossack family of the Chaeks, famous in Ukraine.
Family legend claimed that his great-grandfather Fyodor Afanasyevich Chaika (1695-1767) participated in the Battle of Poltava and died with the rank of centurion “from wounds,” although in fact he died in old age in Catherine’s time.
The composer's grandfather, Pyotr Fedorovich, was the second son of Fyodor Chaika and his wife Anna (1717-?). He studied at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, from where in 1769 he transferred to the St. Petersburg Military Land Hospital. In Kyiv, he “ennobled” his surname, starting to call himself Tchaikovsky. Since 1770, during the Russian-Turkish war (a doctor's apprentice, a doctor's assistant, then a doctor). In 1776 he was appointed city doctor in Kungur, Perm governorate, in 1782 he was transferred to Vyatka, two years later he was promoted to headquarters doctor and then awarded the title of nobility.
Subsequently, he retired, in 1795 he was appointed mayor to the city of Slobodskaya, and was soon transferred from there to Glazov, where he held the post until his death in 1818. In 1776, he married 25-year-old Anastasia Stepanovna Posokhova, who had recently lost her father (her father, a second lieutenant, died near Kungur in a skirmish with the Pugachevites; family legend called him the commandant of Kungur, allegedly hanged by Pugachev). They had 11 children.
Ilya Petrovich, the composer's father, was the tenth child. After graduating from the Mining Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, he was enlisted in the Department of Mining and Salt Affairs. Widowed after a short marriage, in 1833 he married 20-year-old Alexandra Andreevna Assier (1813-1854), the granddaughter of the French sculptor Michel Victor Acier, a modeler for the porcelain manufactory in Meissen (Saxony), and the daughter of a major customs official Andrei Mikhailovich (Michael-Heinrich-Maximilian) Assier, who came to Russia as a teacher of French and German and in 1800 accepted Russian citizenship.
In 1837, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky and his young wife moved to the Urals, where he was appointed to the post of head of the Kama-Votkinsk steel plant. Peter was the second child in the family: his older brother Nikolai was born in 1838, and his sister Alexandra (married Davydova) and Ippolit were born in 1842. Twin brothers Anatoly and Modest were born in 1850.
Pyotr Ilyich's parents loved music. His mother played the piano and sang; there was a mechanical organ in the house - an orchestra, in the performance of which little Peter first heard “Don Juan”.
While the family lived in Votkinsk, they often heard melodic folk songs of factory workers and peasants in the evenings.
In 1849 the family moved to the city of Alapaevsk, and in 1850 to St. Petersburg. Feeling inferior in status due to his humble origins, in 1850 his parents sent Tchaikovsky to the Imperial School of Law, located near the street now named after the composer.
Tchaikovsky spent 2 years abroad, 1300 km from his home, since the age for entering the school was 12 years old. For Tchaikovsky, separation from his mother was a very strong mental trauma.
In 1852, having entered the school, he began to seriously study music, which was taught as an elective. Tchaikovsky was known as a good pianist and improvised well. At the age of 16, he began to pay more attention to music, studying with the famous teacher Luigi Piccioli. Then Rudolf Kündinger became the mentor of the future composer.
After graduating from college in 1859, Tchaikovsky received the rank of titular councilor and began working in the Ministry of Justice. In his free time, he visited the opera house, where he was greatly impressed by productions of operas by Mozart and Glinka.
In 1861 he entered the Music classes of the Russian Musical Society (RMS), and after they were transformed into the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, he became one of its first students in the composition class. His teachers at the conservatory were Nikolai Ivanovich Zaremba (music theory) and Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein (orchestration).
At the latter's insistence, he quit his service and devoted himself entirely to music. In 1865 he graduated from the conservatory course with a large silver medal, having written a cantata on the ode “To Joy”; His other conservatory works are the overture to Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” and the dances of the hay girls, later included in the opera "Voevoda".
After graduating from the conservatory, at the invitation of Nikolai Rubinstein, he moved to Moscow, where he received a position as professor of classes in free composition, harmony, theory and instrumentation at the newly founded conservatory.
In 1868, he first appeared in print as a music critic and met a group of St. Petersburg composers - members of the “Mighty Handful”. Despite the difference in creative views, friendly relations developed between him and the “kuchkists”. Tchaikovsky shows interest in program music, and on the advice of the head of the “Mighty Handful” Mily Balakirev, he writes a fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet" based on Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name (1869), and the critic V.V. Stasov suggested to him the idea of a symphonic fantasy “The Tempest” (1873).
In the same year I met Desiree Artaud. He dedicated Romance op. 5 and allegedly encoded her name in the lyrics of the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the symphonic poem Fatum. They planned to get married, but on September 15, 1869, Desiree unexpectedly married the Spanish baritone singer Mariano Padilla y Ramos. 19 years later, in October 1888, Tchaikovsky, at the request of Désirée, wrote Six Romances Op. 65.
The 1870s in Tchaikovsky’s work are a period of creative quest; he is attracted by the historical past of Russia, Russian folk life, and the theme of human destiny.
At this time, he wrote such works as the operas “The Oprichnik” and “Blacksmith Vakula”, music for Ostrovsky’s drama “The Snow Maiden”, the ballet “Swan Lake”, the Second and Third Symphonies, the fantasy “Francesca da Rimini”, the First Piano Concerto, Variations on a Rococo theme for cello and orchestra, three string quartets and others.
The cantata “In memory of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great”, written by order of the organizing committee of the Polytechnic Exhibition, to the words of J. P. Polonsky, dates back to the same period; it was first performed on May 31, 1872 on the Trinity Bridge in the Kremlin under a specially built canopy (conductor K. Yu. Davydov, soloist A. M. Dodonov).
From 1872 to 1876 he worked as a music critic for the newspaper Russkie Vedomosti, which had a reputation as a left-liberal press organ.
In July 1877, carried away by the composition of the opera "Eugene Onegin", impulsively married former conservatory student Antonina Milyukova, who was 8 years younger than him. He wrote to his brother that one of the goals of marriage was to get rid of accusations of homosexuality: “I would like, through marriage or generally a public relationship with a woman, to shut the mouths of every despicable creature whose opinion I do not value at all, but who can cause grief to people close to me.”. However, the composer's homosexuality caused the marriage to break up a few weeks later, according to a number of art historians, this biographical fact was reflected in his work. Due to various circumstances, the couple were never able to divorce and lived separately.
In 1878, he left his post at the Moscow Conservatory and went abroad. Moral and material support for him during this period was provided by Nadezhda von Meck, with whom Tchaikovsky had extensive correspondence in 1876-1890, but never met. One of Tchaikovsky's works of this period, the Fourth Symphony (1877), is dedicated to von Meck.
In 1880 for the overture "1812" Tchaikovsky received the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree.
Tchaikovsky - 1812
In May 1881, he asked for the loan of three thousand rubles in silver from the treasury: “that is, so that my debt to the treasury would be gradually repaid with the performance fee due to me from the management of the Imperial Theaters.” The request was addressed to the emperor, but the letter itself was sent to the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod - due to the fact that the latter was “the only dignitary close to the Sovereign to whom I have the honor of being personally known.” Tchaikovsky explained the reason for his appeal as follows: “This amount would free me from debts (made out of necessity both by myself and by some of my loved ones) and would return to me that spiritual peace that my soul longs for.”. According to the chief prosecutor's report, the emperor sent Pobedonostsev 3 thousand rubles as a non-refundable allowance for Tchaikovsky.
In the mid-1880s, Tchaikovsky returned to active musical and social activities. In 1885 he was elected director of the Moscow branch of the Russian Medical Society. Tchaikovsky's music gains fame in Russia and abroad.
Since the late 1880s he has performed as a conductor in Russia and abroad. Concert trips strengthened Tchaikovsky's creative and friendly ties with Western European musicians, including Hans von Bülow, Edvard Grieg, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, Arthur Nikisch, Camille Saint-Saëns and others.
In the spring of 1891, P. I. Tchaikovsky made a trip to the USA. As a conductor of his works, he performed with sensational success in New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia (a detailed description of this trip is preserved in the composer's diaries). In New York, he conducted the New York Symphony Orchestra at the opening of Carnegie Hall.
For the last time in his life, Tchaikovsky stood at the conductor's stand in St. Petersburg nine days before his death - October 16 (October 28, new style) 1893. In the second part of this concert his Sixth, “Pathetique” symphony was performed for the first time.
The composer spent the last years of his life in the vicinity of the town of Klin near Moscow, including in the preserved house where his museum is now located.
Back in 1873, the following lines appeared in Tchaikovsky’s diary during a trip to Switzerland: “Among these majestically beautiful views and impressions of a tourist, I long for Rus' with all my soul, and my heart aches at the thought of its plains, meadows, groves...” With age, this feeling and desire to live and create outside the bustle of the city intensified and the 47-year-old composer wrote: “The closer you get to old age, the more vividly you feel the pleasures of being close to nature”.
Not wanting to live permanently in Moscow or St. Petersburg and not having the funds to buy his own home, Tchaikovsky was looking for a house to rent in a secluded, quiet place in the Moscow region, so that after tiring tours he would be able to devote himself entirely to creativity. The first choice fell on the Maidanovo estate not far from Klin.
On February 16, 1885, he writes to N.F. von Meck from “his refuge”: “What a joy it is to be at home! What a bliss it is to know that no one will come and interfere with your studies, reading, or walks! ...I now understand once and for all that my dream of settling for the rest of my life in a Russian village is not a passing whim, but a real need of my nature.”. The house stood on the high bank of the Sestra River in a picturesque park. The proximity of the railway made it possible to travel to one of the capitals at any time for urgent matters (in February 1885, Pyotr Ilyich was elected one of the directors of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society).
Every day from 9 am to 1 pm Tchaikovsky worked. After lunch, in any weather, he went for a two-hour walk with an indispensable notebook for sketching musical thoughts and themes.
Having come into contact with the living conditions of local peasants, the composer agreed with the parish priest, a graduate of the Bethany Theological Seminary E. S. Bogolyubsky, to open a school in Maidanov, for the maintenance of which he donated money.
On June 24, 1885, the composer was an eyewitness and even helped residents put out a fire that destroyed one and a half hundred houses and shopping arcades in Klin.
From Maidanov, Tchaikovsky, at the invitation of his student composer S.I. Taneyev, repeatedly walked on foot to the nearby Demyanovo estate, which was acquired in 1883 by the philosopher and sociologist V.I. Taneyev.
Tchaikovsky lived in the Maidan estate of the bankrupt landowner, state councilor N.V. Novikova from the beginning of February 1885 until December 1887. Here he worked on a new edition of the opera “Blacksmith Vakula” (“Cherevichki”), the symphony “Manfred”, the opera “ The Enchantress" and other works.
In his creative work, Tchaikovsky was helped by the library he collected, which he did not part with, despite his frequent moves, and which presented not only scores of works by his favorite composers, but also works by Russian and foreign classics of literature and philosophy. In the spring of 1888, Tchaikovsky, whose solitude in the summer was interfered with by numerous summer residents, rented “a new refuge... again near Klin, but in an area much more picturesque and beautiful than Maidanovo. Moreover, there is only one house, one estate, and I will not see the hated summer residents walking under my windows, as was the case in Maidanov. This place is called the village of Frolovsky".
The isolated house, furnished with antique furniture, a beautiful view of the wide distances and a neglected garden, turning into a forest, were to the composer’s heart: “I am completely in love with Frolovskoye. This whole area seems like a heavenly paradise to me.". From Frolovsky, Tchaikovsky went to another estate, Spas-Korkodino, located not far from Klin, to visit its owner S.I. Fonvizin, who was married to Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy’s niece, Vera Petrovna Bers.
In Frolovsky, Tchaikovsky wrote the Hamlet overture, the Fifth Symphony, the ballet The Sleeping Beauty, and the opera The Queen of Spades. To Tchaikovsky’s chagrin, the forest surrounding the estate, which belonged to its owner L.A. Panina, who permanently lived in Bessarabia, gradually began to be cut down. The house was dilapidated and required funds for repairs. I had to part with Frolovsky.
In May 1891, the composer returned to Maidanovo, where he lived for exactly a year and where the opera “Ioalanta” and the ballet were written during this period "Nutcracker".
From Maydanov, Tchaikovsky moved to Klin on May 5, 1892, to a house at the very end of the city, on the Moscow highway. The Klin period of the composer's life was marked by important milestones in the international recognition of his work: in November 1892, Tchaikovsky was elected a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, and in June 1893, an honorary doctor of the University of Cambridge.
In Klin, he worked on the final proofs of the scores of “Iolanta” and “The Nutcracker”, and created numerous plays and romances. One of the last works written here - the Third Piano Concerto - is dated October 1893. Here, in February - March 1893, the instrumentation was written in sketches and completed in the summer "Sixth Symphony", about which the composer wrote: “I put, without exaggeration, my whole soul into this symphony.”
Tchaikovsky conducted its first performance on October 16, 1893 in St. Petersburg, a few days before his death.
Back in 1891, while in the USA and admiring the attention and admiration of the public “there” for him, Tchaikovsky noted in his diary “some kind of old man’s slackness” and unusual fatigue. Even the local press calls him a man of “about sixty” and he has to justify himself to the public, reminding him of his real age. He noted the same unusual fatigue the following year.
On the evening of October 20 (November 1), 1893, a completely healthy Tchaikovsky visited Leiner’s elite St. Petersburg restaurant on the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Moika embankment, where he stayed until approximately two in the morning. During one of the orders, he demanded to bring him cold water. Despite the unfavorable epidemiological situation in the city regarding cholera, Tchaikovsky was served unboiled water, which he drank.
On the morning of October 21 (November 2), 1893, the composer felt ill and called a doctor, who diagnosed cholera. The disease was severe, and Tchaikovsky died at 3 o’clock in the morning on October 25 (November 6), 1893, from cholera “unexpectedly and untimely” in the apartment of his brother Modest, at 13 on Malaya Morskaya Street. The funeral arrangements, with the Emperor's highest permission, were entrusted to the directorate of the Imperial Theaters, which was “a unique and quite exceptional example.”
Emperor Alexander III ordered all funeral expenses to be covered “from His Majesty’s Own sums.” The funeral service in the Kazan Cathedral was performed by Bishop Nikandr (Molchanov) of Narva. The choir of singers of the Kazan Cathedral and the choir of the Imperial Russian Opera sang - “the walls of the cathedral could not accommodate everyone who wanted to pray for the repose of the soul of Peter Ilyich.” Two members of the imperial family took part in the funeral: Prince Alexander of Oldenburg (trustee of the School of Law) and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.
He was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in the Necropolis of Masters of Arts.
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake
Personal life of Tchaikovsky:
Despite the fact of his (unsuccessful) marriage, Tchaikovsky was a pronounced homosexual (like his brother Modest). Tchaikovsky’s family believed that Tchaikovsky had his first homosexual experience at school, at the age of 13, with his classmate, the future poet A. N. Apukhtin (Apukhtin himself was already in a relationship with his class teacher at that time).
Tchaikovsky's homosexual and ephebophilic tendencies were well known to his contemporaries.
Back in 1862, Tchaikovsky, in the company of legal friends, including Apukhtin, got into a homosexual scandal in the St. Petersburg restaurant “Shotan”, as a result of which they, in the words of Modest Tchaikovsky, “were denounced throughout the city as lumps of homosexuals.”
In a letter to his brother Modest dated August 29, 1878, he notes a corresponding hint in a feuilleton about the morals of the Conservatory, which appeared in “New Time,” and writes with contrition: “My Bugrian reputation is falling on the entire Conservatory, and that makes me even more ashamed, even harder.”
Subsequently, A.V. Amphiteatrov, who tried to understand this issue by interviewing people close to Tchaikovsky, came to the conclusion that Tchaikovsky was characterized by “spiritual homosexuality, ideal, platonic ephebism. ... Forever surrounded by young friends, he always tenderly fussed with them, becoming attached to them and tying them to himself with a love more passionate than friendship or family. One of these platonic ephebes of Tchaikovsky in Tiflis even shot himself out of grief when his composer friend left the city. Under Tchaikovsky we can count many friends, young men and boys, but not a single lover.”
Tchaikovsky's letters, primarily to Modest, contain frank confessions. Thus, in a letter to his brother dated May 4, 1877, he admits to burning jealousy towards his student, 22-year-old violinist Joseph (Eduard-Joseph) Kotek, due to the fact that the latter had an affair with singer Zinaida Eibozhenko. At the same time, in a letter to Modest dated January 19. 1877 Tchaikovsky, confessing his love for Kotek, at the same time emphasizes that he does not want to go beyond the boundaries of a purely platonic relationship.
The strong homosexual attachment of Tchaikovsky's last years is considered to be his nephew Vladimir (Bob) Davydov, to whom Tchaikovsky dedicated the Sixth Symphony, to whom he made a co-heir and to whom he transferred the right to royalties for stage performances of his works.
Tchaikovsky and "Bob" Davydov
In the last years of Tchaikovsky’s life, he, Modest, Bob and the young Vladimir Argutinsky-Dolgorukov (“Argo”) formed a close circle, jokingly calling themselves the “fourth suite.” However, Tchaikovsky was not limited to people in his circle: as is clear from the diary, throughout 1886 he was in a relationship with a cab driver named Ivan.
A number of researchers also consider Tchaikovsky’s relationships with his servants, brothers Mikhail and Alexei (“Lenka”) Sofronov, to whom he also wrote tender letters, to be homosexual. In Tchaikovsky’s diaries during his stay in Klin one can find numerous erotic records about peasant children, whom he, in the words of Alexander Poznansky, “corrupted with gifts,” however, according to Poznansky, Tchaikovsky’s eroticism towards them was platonic, “aesthetically speculative.” character and was far from the desire for physical possession.
V. S. Sokolov, who studied Tchaikovsky’s letters, notes that in the 70s Tchaikovsky suffered from his sexual inclinations and tried to fight them.
N. N. Berberova notes that Tchaikovsky’s “secret” became widely known after 1923, when the composer’s diary of the late 80s was published, translated into European languages, this coincided with a revision of views on homosexuality in European society.
Major works by Tchaikovsky:
Operas by Tchaikovsky:
Voivode (1868)
Ondine (1869)
Oprichnik (1872)
Evgeny Onegin (1878)
The Maid of Orleans (1879)
Mazepa (1883)
Cherevichki (1885)
The Enchantress (1887)
Queen of Spades (1890)
Iolanta (1891)
Ballets by Tchaikovsky:
Swan Lake (1877)
Sleeping Beauty (1889)
The Nutcracker (1892)
Symphonies by Tchaikovsky:
Symphony No. 1 “Winter Dreams” op. 13 (1866)
Symphony No. 2 op.17 (1872)
Symphony No. 3 op. 29 (1875)
Symphony No. 4 op. 36 (1878)
"Manfred" - symphony (1885)
Symphony No. 5 (1888)
Symphony No. 6 op. 74 (1893)
Tchaikovsky Suites:
Suite No. 1 op. 43 (1879)
Suite No. 2 op. 53 (1883)
Suite No. 3 op. 55 (1884)
Suite No. 4 Mozartiana op. 61 (1887)
The Nutcracker, suite for ballet op. 71a (1892)
Selected orchestral works by Tchaikovsky:
Solemn overture to the Danish anthem op. 15 (1866)
"Storm" op. 18 (1873)
Slavic March (1876) op. 31
“Francesca da Rimini” - symphonic fantasy (1876) op. 32
Italian capriccio op. 45 (1880)
Serenade for string orchestra op. 48 (1880)
“1812” - solemn overture (1880) op. 49
Hamlet, fantasy overture, op. 67, 1888
"The Thunderstorm", overture to the drama op. 76(1864)
"Fatum" - symphonic fantasy op. 77(1868)
"Voevoda" symphonic ballad op. 78 (1891)
"Romeo and Juliet" - fantasy overture (1869, 1870, 1880)
March of the Voluntary Fleet (1878)
March of the Yuryevsky Regiment (1893)
Tchaikovsky concerts:
Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1 op. 23 (1875)
Melancholic Serenade op. 26 (1875)
Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra op. 33 (1878)
Waltz-scherzo for violin and orchestra op. 34 (1877)
Concerto for violin and orchestra op. 35 (1878)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2 op. 44 (1880)
Concert Fantasy for piano and orchestra op. 56 (1884)
Pezzo capriccioso for cello and orchestra op. 62 (1887)
Piano Concerto No. 3 (1893)
Piano works by Tchaikovsky:
Russian scherzo op. 1, No. 1 (1867)
Impromptu op. 1, No. 2 (1867)
Memories of Gapsala, 3 pieces op. 2 (1867)
Waltz-caprice op. 4 (1868)
Romance op. 5 (1868)
Waltz-scherzo op. 7 (1870)
Capriccio op. 8 (1870)
Three pieces op. 9 (1870)
Two pieces op. 10 (1871)
Six pieces op. 19 (1873)
Six pieces on one theme op. 21 (1873)
Grand Sonata in G major op. 37a (1878)
Seasons op. 37b (1876)
Children's album op. 39 (1878)
Twelve pieces op. 40 (1878)
Six pieces op. 51 (1882)
Dumka op. 59 (1886)
Eighteen pieces op. 72 (1893)
Sonata in C sharp minor op. 80 posth (1865, ed. 1900)
Chamber music by Tchaikovsky:
String Quartet No. 1 op. 11 (1871)
String Quartet No. 2 op. 22 (1874)
String Quartet No. 3 op. 30 (1876)
“Memories of a Dear Place”, three pieces for violin and piano op. 42 (1878)
Piano trio op. 50 (1882)
"Memory of Florence", string sextet op. 70 (1890)
Choral music by Tchaikovsky:
All-night vigil for unaccompanied mixed choir, op. 52
Liturgy for unaccompanied mixed choir, op. 41
Spiritual and musical works for full choir (1884-85): Cherubic Hymn No. 1 (1887)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on April 25 (May 7), 1840 in the city of Votkinsk in a large family of an engineer. Music was often played in Tchaikovsky's house. His parents were fond of playing the piano and organ.
In the biography of Tchaikovsky, it is important to note that at the age of five he already knew how to play the piano, and three years later he played the notes perfectly. In 1849, the Tchaikovsky family moved to Alapaevsk and then to St. Petersburg.
Education
Tchaikovsky received his initial education at home. Then Peter studied at a boarding school for two years, after which he studied at the St. Petersburg Law School. Tchaikovsky's creativity during this period was manifested in optional music classes. The death of his mother in 1862 greatly affected the vulnerable child. After graduating from college in 1859, Peter began serving in the Department of Justice.
In his free time, he often visited the opera house; he was especially impressed by the productions of operas by Mozart and Glinka.
Having shown a penchant for composing music, Tchaikovsky became a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Further studies in the life of Pyotr Ilyich with the excellent teachers N. Zaremba and A. Rubinstein greatly helped in the formation of a musical personality. After graduating from the conservatory, composer Tchaikovsky was invited by Nikolai Rubinstein (the teacher’s brother) to the Moscow Conservatory as a professor.
Creative and personal life
Many of Tchaikovsky's concertos were written while working at the conservatory. The opera Ondine (1869) was not staged; the author destroyed it. Only a small part of it was later presented as Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.
It is worth briefly noting that in 1877, in order to get rid of gossip about his unconventional orientation, Tchaikovsky decided to marry a conservatory student Antonina Milyukova. Having no feelings for his wife, a few weeks later he left her forever. Since then, the couple lived separately; they were never able to divorce due to various circumstances.
In 1878 he left the conservatory and went abroad. At the same time, Tchaikovsky communicates closely with Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy fan of his music. She corresponds with him, supports him financially and morally.
During his two-year stay in Italy and Switzerland, new magnificent works by Tchaikovsky appeared - the opera “Eugene Onegin”, the Fourth Symphony.
In May 1878, Tchaikovsky made a contribution to children's musical literature - he wrote a collection of plays for children called “Children's Album”.
After financial assistance from Nadezhda von Meck, the composer travels a lot. From 1881 to 1888 he wrote many works. In particular, waltzes, symphonies, overtures, suites.
Finally, a calm creative period was established in the biography of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, at which time the author himself was able to conduct concerts.
Death and legacy
Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg on October 25 (November 6), 1893 from cholera. He was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.
Streets, conservatories in Moscow and Kyiv, as well as other musical institutions (institutes, colleges, schools) in many cities of the former USSR are named after the great composer. Monuments have been erected in his honor, a theater and a concert hall, a symphony orchestra and an international music competition are named after him.
Other biography options
- There were no professional musicians in Pyotr Ilyich’s family, but everyone loved music very much: the head of the family played the flute, his mother played the harp and piano. The future composer received initial lessons in playing the piano at the age of five from Maria Markovna Palchikova.
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