Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in the hamlet of Votkinsk. Now the land of the settlement belongs to Udmurtia. Pyotr Ilyich’s father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, did not have a musical vocation. He hailed from the Cossack family of Chaikas, who were highly renowned in Ukraine and worked as a basic engineer. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s mother, Alexandra Andreevna Assier, graduated from a school for orphans, where she studied literature, geography, mathematics, rhetoric and foreign languages.
At one point, the father of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky acquired a respectable post, which is why he relocated to the Urals. He became the head of the Kama-Votkinsk steel mill, one of the major corporations. He was supplied not only with a huge residence with servants, but also with an army in which one hundred Cossacks served. Among the visitors of the enormous home were nobility, the capital’s youth, English engineers and other members of high society.
There were six children in the Tchaikovsky family: the eldest – Nikolai, the second son – Pyotr (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), Ippolit and the younger sister Alexandra, subsequently twins Modest and Anatoly were born. In addition, the relatives of Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky always resided in the spacious mansion, and subsequently the children’s governess, Frenchwoman Fanny Durbach from Montbéliard, who was accepted as a part of the family.
From the memoirs of M. I. Tchaikovsky: “A mass of people ran out to meet us, hugs and kisses began, among which it was difficult to distinguish between relatives and servants, so affectionate and warm were the manifestations of universal joy. My father approached the small girl and kissed her like his own. This simplicity and patriarchal relationship quickly encouraged and warmed the young stranger and put her in the position of nearly a family member.”
Despite the fact that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s parents were not skilled musicians, music always resided in their house. Ilya Petrovich could play the flute, Alexandra Andreevna could play the piano and harp, they also stated that she played romances well, and the governess just enjoyed music very much.
In the Tchaikovskys’ residence there was an orchestrion (mechanical organ) and a piano. Pyotr Ilyich had piano lessons from the serf Marya Palchikova. He was not only brilliant in music, but also wrote poems.
The Tchaikovskys’ oldest children enjoyed a solid education: they studied in St. Petersburg at the Schmelling boarding school. Here Pyotr Ilyich became familiar with ballet, opera and a symphony orchestra. At an early age, misfortune struck: Pyotr Tchaikovsky caught measles, from the repercussions of which he suffered all his life.
In 1850, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky attended the Imperial School of Law, where he studied until 1859. Before the downfall of his father and the death of his mother, Pyotr Ilyich also had piano lessons from the famed German musician Rudolf Kündinger. Due of the family’s situation, they later had to be stopped.
After finishing his education, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky worked at the Ministry of Justice, where he handled the concerns of peasants. In his leisure time, he went to the theater and performed music. In 1861, Tchaikovsky traveled abroad for the first time, where he visited Hamburg, Berlin, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, Ostend and London.
Music career
at 1859, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky graduated from college and began working at the Ministry of Justice with the title of titular adviser. In 1861, Tchaikovsky visited Berlin, Hamburg, Antwerp, Brussels, London, and Paris as a translator. Upon returning, he attended the composition department at the Music Classes of the Russian Musical Society, which subsequently became the St. Petersburg Conservatory. For some time he blended service with studies, but eventually made the ultimate choice, against the opposition of his family. At the same time, he took part in performances as an accompanist.
In 1865, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky graduated from the conservatory with a huge silver medal and traveled to Moscow, where he earned a job as a professor at the newly founded conservatory. That same year he made his debut as a conductor.
In 1866, Tchaikovsky created his first symphony and began work on the opera “ The Voevoda ” , which debuted in 1869. In 1868, his first critical writings were published. From 1871 until 1876 he was the staff music critic of the Contemporary Chronicle.
In 1873, the debut of Ostrovsky’s “ Th
e Snow Maiden ” to the music of Tchaikovsky took place at the Maly Theater in Moscow. In 1875, Tchaikovsky’s opera “ The Oprichnik ” was presented at the Bolshoi.
In 1877, the ballet “ Swan Lake ” debuted on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater . In 1878, Tchaikovsky abandoned his work at the conservatory and traveled abroad. By that time, his name was well recognized to the musical world; his symphonies were played in the USA. A year later, the opera “ Eugene Onegin ” was produced in Moscow ; since 1881, the performance has been staged at the Bolshoi Theater.
In 1885, Tchaikovsky lived in the settlement of Maidanovo near Klin, where he supported the building of a school.
In 1888, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky presented a series of concerts in Leipzig, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Paris, and London, conducting his own compositions. In addition to strong reviews in the press, the trip provided him familiarity with famous contemporaries – Grieg, Strauss, Mahler, Dvorak, Gounod . A year later, the tour proceeded in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Dresden, Berlin, Geneva, Hamburg, London, and Paris. In 1891, Tchaikovsky went to conduct concerts in the USA.
In 1890, the ballet “ The Sleeping Beauty ” opened at the Mariinsky Theater, while Tchaikovsky began composing the opera “ The Queen of Spades .” In 1892, the debuts of the opera “ Iolanta ” and the ballet “ The Nutcracker ” took place in St. Petersburg.
Works of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky worked in all known musical genres of his day, but gave priority to large-scale ones: operas and symphonies. He was interested in the deep interior realm of man, his soul and the experience of drama. Tchaikovsky’s music is highly delicate, lyrical and melodic. His pieces provoke a powerful emotional response from the listener. Tchaikovsky supplemented even tiny musical genres with symphonic scale. One of the fundamental themes of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s work was compassion and affection for humans.
Tchaikovsky also engaged in the realm of choral religious music. S. Taneyev, A. Glazunov, S. Rachmaninov, A. Scriabin were deemed the continuers of his musical traditions. Tchaikovsky’s music became a symbol of Russian life and culture of the 19th century. Thanks to Tchaikovsky’s legacy, we were able to rediscover the pictures of Russian and global literature – Pushkin and Gogol, Shakespeare and Dante, Russian lyric poetry of the second half of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky justifiably acquired international acclaim during his lifetime and is currently considered one of the finest Russian composers.
Death
In the fall of 1893, Pyotr Ilyich was offered unboiled cold water in a restaurant on Nevsky. This became the source of a dreadful sickness – cholera, from which Tchaikovsky died unexpectedly a few days later, on October 25, 1893, at the apartment of his brother Modest.
The composer’s burial was paid for by Alexander III, and the funeral service at the Kazan Cathedral was attended by the Prince of Oldenburg and Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is interred in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.