![]() The 1812 Overture - Historical Background and Significance They continue to be loved by audiences all across the world. His works contain expressive melodies and rich orchestrations. 6, “Pathétique,” Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, his Violin Concerto in D Major, and, of course, the 1812 Overture. Some of Tchaikovsky's most famous compositions include Symphony No. Tchaikovsky was a Romantic era composer, and one of the first Russian composers to truly experience international acclaim.įrom symphonies to concertos, and operas to ballets, Pyotr Ilyich was a master of it all. Tchaikovsky: The Star of Russian Romanticism The truth behind Tchaikovsky's death will likely remain a mystery forever. Tchaikovsky’s death was attributed to cholera, but the real reason is unknown. The year was 1893, and the great composer was just 53 years old. Nine days after conducting the premiere of one of his most intense works, Symphony No. The death of Tchaikovsky is shrouded in mystery. His homosexuality (and resulting broken marriage), his mother’s early death, and complications arising from his relationship with his patron all contributed to instability and occasional chaos in his personal life.Īll these factors, critics believe, had a profound effect on his musical works. Within three years of taking piano lessons, Tchaikovsky was able to read music as adeptly as his teacher.Īs Tchaikovsky grew older, his adult life became increasingly problematic. His friend Nikolay Rubenstein encouraged and influenced him to pursue his passion. At the age of 22 he enrolled into the Music Conservatory at St Petersburg. ![]() Tchaikovsky, however, had no interest in public service. He was educated for a career as a civil servant. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in Votkinsk, a small town in the Vyatka Governorate of the Russian Empire. In 2013, a Russian screenwriter working on a government funded biopic of his life caused furore when he denied that the composer had been gay.The Life of Tchaikovsky: A Quick Biography Many brief same-sex affairs are recorded in his cryptographic diary, too, leaving little to the imagination.ĭespite the weight of evidence, Soviet Russia set about suppressing the truth in a re-writing of the composer’s life which lasts to this day. His lovers included Vladimir Shilovsky, a wealthy young man whom he met at the Moscow Conservatory, who paid for a number of trips for the two of them Alexei Sofronov, his valet from 1872 to the end of his life, and his pupil Eduard Zak, who killed himself in 1873 (he inspired the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture). History doesn’t change just because we are trying to push a certain agenda today.”Īs an adult, Tchaikovsky fell in love with his own nephew, Vladimir Davidov (second son of his sister Alexandra) in the 1880s-1890s, to whom he later dedicated the Symphonie Pathétique (1893), shortly before his sudden death. Historians and classical scholars almost unanimously agree – as letters and diaries, including letters to his brother, Modest, who was also gay, make clear.Īccording to biographer John Wiley, Tchaikovsky was openly gay all his life, feminising the names of the young men he consorted with, as well as referring to himself as “Petrolina”.Īuthor Konstantin Rotikov, who has written a gay history of St Petersburg, said: “In the case of Tchaikovsky his homosexuality is so well documented by his own writings and the writings of others that it is simply ludicrous to suggest otherwise. Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
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