Tchaikovsky, Pytr Il'ich 1840 - 1893
Author: Yamamoto, Akihisa
Last updated：July 10, 2019
Author: Yamamoto, Akihisa
Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of Russia's most celebrated composers, was born on April 25, 1840 (May 7, New Style; hereafter, all dates are Old Style) in Votkinsk, a town located in the eastern part of European Russia. He was the third of seven children and the second son. Votkinsk developed on the shores of a vast dam lake formed with the establishment of an 18th-century ironworks, where Pyotr's father, Ilya, worked as a mining engineer and factory director. Raised in a cultured household where both parents could play musical instruments, Pyotr naturally received his first piano lessons from his mother and, as was customary for the upper class, began studying music with a tutor. Furthermore, the folk songs that could be heard from everywhere in Votkinsk, where industry and nature coexisted, also nurtured Tchaikovsky's ear. At the time, music was largely imported into Russia and was merely a pastime or source of enjoyment for the upper class. However, there is no doubt that the talents of these two individuals and the inherent “musicality” of the region fostered the future composer.
In 1848, his father, Ilya Tchaikovsky, resigned from his position, and the family left their hometown. Following his parents' wishes, Pyotr began studying as a boarder at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in 1850. During his student years, he continued his musical studies, attempting his first compositions and conducting student choirs.
Among Tchaikovsky's close friends from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence was the poet Alexei Apukhtin. This close friend was exceptionally fond of music within the law school, and the friendship that blossomed there continued until the poet's death in August 1893, about two months before Tchaikovsky's own passing. Tchaikovsky frequently set Apukhtin's poems to music. It is also well-known that this friendship likely contained a significant homosexual element, and the group of friends, including them, caused a scandal at a St. Petersburg restaurant in 1862.
After graduating from the School of Jurisprudence in 1859, Pyotr served briefly as an official in the Ministry of Justice, reportedly immersing himself in the cultural life and dissipation of the capital. Alongside his work, he continued his musical studies, beginning harmony lessons at the Russian Musical Society in the autumn of 1861. In 1862, he enrolled as a first-generation student at the newly established Saint Petersburg Conservatory, studying harmony with Nikolai Zaremba and composition with Anton Rubinstein. It was likely during this period that his resolve to pursue a career in music solidified, as Tchaikovsky resigned from the Ministry of Justice after four years of service.
In 1865, he graduated from the composition department of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The following year, in 1866, he was invited by Anton's brother, Nikolai Rubinstein, to become a professor at the newly established Moscow Conservatory, where he taught free composition, music theory, harmony, and instrumentation. Regarding harmony, he published textbooks in 1871 and 1875, respectively. Tchaikovsky can be considered a pioneer among composers and music educators who received formal higher music education within Russia and subsequently engaged in educational activities within the country, making him, so to speak, a product of “pure Russian cultivation.”
Another notable event during this period was the beginning of his association with the members of the so-called “Balakirev Circle” (popularly known as “The Mighty Handful”) in 1868. Balakirev, in particular, is well-known for influencing Tchaikovsky's orchestral conceptions, offering advice during the creation of programmatic works such as the fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet (1869) and the Manfred Symphony (1885).
Although Tchaikovsky's life seemed to be smooth sailing, a crisis in his private life emerged in the latter half of the 1870s, involving troubles related to marriage. In August 1876, he wrote to his brother Modest: “I have decided to marry. It is inevitable. I must do this not for myself, but for you, for Tolya [his brother Anatoly], for Sasha [his sister Alexandra], for all those I love” (emphasis original). After meeting Antonina Milyukova, a woman eight years his junior whom he had met previously in Moscow and who had sent him a love confession letter in late March 1877, in late May, he married her just a month and a half later. It is well-known that this marriage ended in complete failure. Tchaikovsky realized his grave mistake almost immediately after the wedding, and the actual marital life ended after about two months. For many years, it was argued that, similar to Mozart and his wife Constanze, the breakdown of the great composer's marriage was due to his wife Antonina being a wicked woman. However, today, as research into historical documents and information disclosure has progressed, it is now believed that this breakdown was primarily due to Tchaikovsky's inability to accept women.
As if to escape his marital life, Tchaikovsky left for Switzerland in October 1877. At the end of that year, an unexpected offer came his way. He received an offer of regular financial support from Nadezhda von Meck (Madame von Meck), with whom he had been corresponding since around May of the same year. In an era when a bottle of vodka cost about half a ruble and a front-row ticket to the Bolshoi Theatre cost three rubles, the composer began receiving a large sum of 6,000 rubles annually. Citing “health reasons” in writing, Tchaikovsky resigned from his professorship at the Moscow Conservatory in 1878, and from then on, he concentrated his career on his own musical activities, which was undoubtedly made possible by her support. This relationship was strictly private; in fact, Tchaikovsky always dedicated his works to her without explicitly naming her. For example, Symphony No. 4 is dedicated “To My Best Friend,” and Souvenir d'un lieu cher for violin and piano bears the dedication “To B*******” from Brailov, where Madame von Meck had a country estate. Furthermore, Tchaikovsky and Madame von Meck exchanged over 1,200 surviving letters over a period of approximately 14 years until 1890, discussing not only music but also various other topics. Among these discussions was the topic of young Claude Debussy, who worked as a piano teacher in Madame von Meck's household in the early 1880s. Debussy loved Tchaikovsky's music and reportedly showed him his piano piece Danse bohémienne through Madame von Meck (Tchaikovsky gave it a somewhat unenthusiastic assessment). However, as is well-known, the two never met directly. Even when Madame von Meck's son Nikolai married Tchaikovsky's niece Anna in 1884, and even after they became relatives, this attitude remained unchanged. Theirs was likely a peculiar spiritual resonance through written words rather than a romantic relationship involving direct verbal communication.
Despite the sequence of events—his decision to marry, its fatal failure, his escape abroad, and the offer of support from Madame von Meck—and the intense emotional turmoil he must have experienced in 1877–78, Tchaikovsky's creative power did not wane. During this period, he produced large-scale masterpieces such as Symphony No. 4, the opera Eugene Onegin, and the Violin Concerto, as well as piano works like the Grand Sonata and Children's Album.
Having resigned from his position and gained financial freedom through his patron, Tchaikovsky frequently undertook long stays abroad and in the Russian countryside. During this period, he composed the opera The Maid of Orleans (1881, based on Schiller, with Zhukovsky's translation as the original concept) on the subject of Joan of Arc, Serenade for Strings, and Piano Concerto No. 2. He also revised early works such as Symphony No. 1. This nomadic life continued until he settled in the village of Maidanovo near Moscow (Klin) in 1885.
From the late 1880s, his activities as a conductor also became prominent. He incessantly conducted his own works and those of others not only in St. Petersburg and Moscow but also abroad in Leipzig, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Paris, and London. Furthermore, he conducted his own Coronation March at the inaugural concert of Carnegie Hall in New York. Through these travels and performances abroad, Tchaikovsky became acquainted with many musicians, including Fauré, Lalo, and Gounod in Paris, Mahler in Germany, and Dvořák in Prague. Through such interactions and performances, Tchaikovsky's reputation as a leading Russian composer grew, and in 1893, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University.
However, the time remaining for Tchaikovsky was tragically short. After conducting the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 on October 16, 1893, he was diagnosed with cholera, and his health rapidly deteriorated. Tchaikovsky passed away on October 25 at the age of 53. How much his sudden death must have astonished society, as he had continued to compose and perform without showing any signs of weakening. Emperor Alexander III and his wife, who deeply loved Tchaikovsky's music, reportedly mourned his death and even suggested that a “state funeral would be appropriate.” The suddenness of his death, the musical character of Symphony No. 6, which effectively became his swan song, and the intertwining of various conflicting memoirs and gossip news have always enveloped his life and death in a “myth.”
Tchaikovsky left works in all major genres of his time. His operas, ballets, incidental music, orchestral works, choral pieces, songs, and instrumental pieces are widely enjoyed today in opera houses, concert halls, salons, and homes around the world.
Compared to other Romantic composers, Tchaikovsky cannot be said to have placed a disproportionate emphasis on the piano as an instrument or to have been exceptionally skilled in handling it. However, especially for the early Tchaikovsky, piano works were an important workshop. Focusing on published works, eight of his works from Op. 1 to 10 (corresponding to the years 1867–1871) are piano pieces, indicating the importance of this genre to him at the time. This emphasis on piano music was likely related to the fact that sales of piano sheet music for amateurs were particularly good in the mid-19th century Russian cultural landscape. For the young composer Tchaikovsky, royalty income from piano music publications must have helped his livelihood. Although there were periods of several years when he wrote no piano music, he frequently returned to the genre until his death in 1893, leaving over 100 piano pieces, both large and small.
In addition to solo pieces, his two piano concertos hold a significant place in Tchaikovsky's oeuvre. The popularity of the First Concerto, with its magnificent introduction, needs no further elaboration here (though there is doubt that this famous introduction was composed by Tchaikovsky himself; in fact, the latest critical edition does not include the version with the famous introduction). The Second Concerto, while perhaps less prominent compared to the First, possesses an equally grand scale and a certain relaxed freshness, making it a work awaiting re-evaluation. Furthermore, the Piano Concerto No. 3, though unfinished, is also captivating; it was composed based on an abandoned symphony, with only the first movement (Allegro brillante) completed shortly before his death. Subsequently, Tchaikovsky's pupil Taneyev, at the request of the composer's brother Modest, completed the slow movement and the final movement based on the remaining sketches.
Author : Jitsukata, Kosuke
Last Updated: July 1, 2005
[Open]
Author : Jitsukata, Kosuke
Born in Votkinsk, Ural region, Russia, to a father who was a mining engineer. Although there were no professional musicians in his family, his father played the flute and his mother played the piano, indicating a musical aptitude. He became an official in the Ministry of Justice in 1859 but resigned in 1863. Around this time, he was enrolled in the newly established Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied orchestration under its director, Anton Rubinstein. After graduation, he became a lecturer at the Moscow Conservatory at the invitation of Anton's brother, the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein. He subsequently maintained a close friendship with Nikolai.
The 1870s also saw critical periods, such as mental instability following his failed marriage (1877). However, his creative power was prolific, leading to the creation of masterpieces such as "Romeo and Juliet" (1868), "Piano Concerto No. 1" (1874-75), and "Symphony No. 4" (1877), which brought him fame.
In the 1880s, his interactions with the imperial family solidified his social standing. He died in 1893, shortly after the premiere of his Symphony No. 6. While his cause of death is generally attributed to cholera, there are also theories, such as suicide due to fear of his homosexuality being exposed.
Tchaikovsky's well-known works are primarily orchestral, such as symphonies and ballet music, with few famous piano pieces. Among these, Piano Concerto No. 1 holds extremely high popularity as one of the most beloved pieces in its genre. Collections of short pieces like "The Seasons" and "Album for the Young," as well as "Dumka," are performed relatively frequently.
Works(65)
Concerto (2)
concerto (2)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1 Op.23
Key: b-moll Composed in: 1874 Playing time: 34 min 30 sec
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2 Op.44
Key: G-Dur Composed in: 1879 Playing time: 40 min 00 sec
Piano Solo (13)
sonata (2)
pieces (5)
inpromptu (3)
Tchaikovsky : "Impromptu - Moment lyrique [revised posthumously by Sergey Taneyev]
Playing time: 3 min 00 sec
variation (2)
waltz (4)
caprice (2)
march (2)
character pieces (9)
Piano Ensemble (4)
Reduction/Arrangement (5)
Symphony No.2 (arranged for piano 4 hands by the composer) Op.17
Key: c-moll Composed in: 1872 Playing time: 35 min 00 sec
Orchestral Suite No. 1 (arranged for piano 4 hands by the composer) Op.43
Key: d-moll Composed in: 1879 Playing time: 40 min 00 sec
Italian Capriccio (arranged for piano 4 hands by the composer) Op.45
Key: A-Dur Composed in: 1880 Playing time: 16 min 00 sec
Serenade for strings (arranged for piano 4 hands by the composer) Op.48
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1880 Playing time: 30 min 00 sec
Symphony No.6 ''Pathétique'' (arranged for piano 4 hands by the composer) Op.74
Key: h-moll Composed in: 1893 Playing time: 50 min 00 sec
Various works (2)
Folk and ethnic music arrangements (1)
Cinquante chants populaires russes (50 Russian Folk Songs)
Composed in: 1869 Playing time: 33 min 00 sec
Chamber Music (1)
Various works (4)
Valse Scherzo (arranged for violin and piano by the composer) Op.34
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1877 Playing time: 9 min 00 sec
Piano Trio ''In memory of a great artist'' op.50
Key: a-moll Composed in: 1881 Playing time: 45 min 00 sec
etc (5)
Ballet music (3)
Symphony (6)
Orchestral work (4)