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72-542: The musicians union attempted to form a symphonic orchestra in the late 1890s, but there was no popular support in Erie and the effort died. Another attempt to produce a symphony occurred in April 1913, when a group of 40 to 50 musicians rehearsed for months for a performance of Tchaikovsky 's 1812 Overture and Edvard Grieg 's Peer Gynt Suite . The concert never took place. It was only months later, on 30 November 1913, that

144-406: A waltz in her memory. Tchaikovsky's father, who had also contracted cholera but recovered fully, sent him back to school immediately in the hope that classwork would occupy the boy's mind. Isolated, Tchaikovsky compensated with friendships with fellow students that became lifelong; these included Aleksey Apukhtin and Vladimir Gerard. Music, while not an official priority at school, also bridged

216-431: A bachelor for most of his life. In 1868, he met Belgian soprano Désirée Artôt with whom he considered marriage, but, owing to various circumstances, the relationship ended. Tchaikovsky later claimed she was the only woman he ever loved. In 1877, at the age of 37, he wed a former student, Antonina Miliukova . The marriage was a disaster. Mismatched psychologically and sexually, the couple lived together for only two and

288-523: A formal influence but also as an example of musical dramaturgy and self-expression. Leon Botstein argues the music of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner also left their imprints on Tchaikovsky's orchestral style. The late-Romantic trend for writing orchestral suites, begun by Franz Lachner , Jules Massenet , and Joachim Raff after the rediscovery of Bach 's works in that genre, may have influenced Tchaikovsky to try his own hand at them. Tchaikovsky's teacher Anton Rubinstein's opera The Demon became

360-463: A group known as the Belyayev circle , named after a merchant and amateur musician who became an influential music patron and publisher. Tchaikovsky spent much time in this circle, becoming far more at ease with them than he had been with the 'Five' and increasingly confident in showcasing his music alongside theirs. This relationship lasted until Tchaikovsky's death. In 1892, Tchaikovsky was voted

432-407: A half months before Tchaikovsky left, overwrought emotionally and suffering from acute writer's block . Tchaikovsky's family remained supportive of him during this crisis and throughout his life. Tchaikovsky's marital debacle may have forced him to face the full truth about his sexuality; he never blamed Antonina for the failure of their marriage. Tchaikovsky was also aided by Nadezhda von Meck ,

504-466: A homosexual acquaintance: "Petashenka used to drop by with the criminal intention of observing the Cadet Corps, which is right opposite our windows, but I've been trying to discourage these compromising visits—and with some success." In another one, he wrote: "After our walk, I offered him some money, which was refused. He does it for the love of art and adores men with beards." Tchaikovsky lived as

576-501: A lifetime annual pension of 3,000 rubles from the Tsar. This made him the premier court composer, in practice if not in the actual title. Despite Tchaikovsky's disdain for public life, he now participated in it as part of his increasing celebrity and out of a duty he felt to promote Russian music. He helped support his former pupil Sergei Taneyev , who was now director of Moscow Conservatory, by attending student examinations and negotiating

648-621: A member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in France, only the second Russian subject to be so honored (the first was sculptor Mark Antokolsky ). The following year, the University of Cambridge in England awarded Tchaikovsky an honorary Doctor of Music degree. Discussion of Tchaikovsky's personal life, especially his sexuality , has perhaps been among the most extensive of any composer in

720-419: A model for the final tableau of Eugene Onegin . So did Léo Delibes ' ballets Coppélia and Sylvia for The Sleeping Beauty and Georges Bizet 's opera Carmen (a work Tchaikovsky admired tremendously) for The Queen of Spades . Otherwise, it was to composers of the past that Tchaikovsky turned— Beethoven , whose music he respected; Mozart , whose music he loved; Glinka, whose opera A Life for

792-536: A musical professional, with tools to help him thrive as a composer, and the in-depth exposure to European principles and musical forms gave him a sense that his art was not exclusively Russian or Western. This mindset became important in Tchaikovsky's reconciliation of Russian and European influences in his compositional style. He believed and attempted to show that both these aspects were "intertwined and mutually dependent". His efforts became both an inspiration and

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864-551: A musician in Russia and his unwillingness for Tchaikovsky to be treated likewise. Tchaikovsky was told to finish his course and then try for a post in the Ministry of Justice. On 10 June 1859, the 19-year-old Tchaikovsky graduated as a titular counselor, a low rung on the civil service ladder. Appointed to the Ministry of Justice, he became a junior assistant within six months and a senior assistant two months after that. He remained

936-684: A new production of Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg. By having the opera staged there and not at the Mariinsky Theatre , he served notice that Tchaikovsky's music was replacing Italian opera as the official imperial art. In addition, at the instigation of Ivan Vsevolozhsky , Director of the Imperial Theaters and a patron of the composer, Tchaikovsky was awarded

1008-585: A physician's assistant in the army and later as city governor of Glazov in Vyatka. His great-grandfather, a Zaporozhian Cossack named Fyodor Chaika, served in the Russian military at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. Tchaikovsky's mother, Alexandra Andreyevna (née d'Assier), was the second of Ilya's three wives; his first wife died several years before Pyotr's birth. She was 18 years younger than her husband and

1080-561: A precursor to the Saint Petersburg Conservatory , which opened in 1862. Tchaikovsky enrolled at the Conservatory as part of its premiere class. He studied harmony and counterpoint with Zaremba and instrumentation and composition with Rubinstein. He was awarded a silver medal for his thesis, a cantata on Schiller's " Ode to Joy ". The Conservatory benefited Tchaikovsky in two ways. It transformed him into

1152-475: A romantic love between the two. Tchaikovsky's sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera , but there is an ongoing debate as to whether cholera was indeed the cause and whether the death was accidental or intentional. While his music has remained popular among audiences, critical opinions were initially mixed. Some Russians did not feel it was sufficiently representative of native musical values and expressed suspicion that Europeans accepted

1224-605: A senior assistant for the rest of his three-year civil service career. Meanwhile, the Russian Musical Society (RMS) was founded in 1859 by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (a German-born aunt of Tsar Alexander II ) and her protégé, pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein . Previous tsars and the aristocracy had focused almost exclusively on importing European talent. The aim of the RMS

1296-845: A small town in Vyatka Governorate during the Russian Empire in present-day Udmurtia near the banks of the Kama River . His father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, served as a lieutenant colonel and engineer in the Department of Mines and managed the Ironworks in Kamsko-Votkinsk . His grandfather, Pyotr Fedorovich Tchaikovsky, was born in the village of Nikolaevka, Yekaterinoslav Governorate , Russian Empire in present-day Mykolaivka , Ukraine, and served first as

1368-479: A starting point for other Russian composers to build their own individual styles. Rubinstein was impressed by Tchaikovsky's musical talent on the whole and cited him as "a composer of genius" in his autobiography. He was less pleased with the more progressive tendencies of some of Tchaikovsky's student work. Nor did he change his opinion as Tchaikovsky's reputation grew. He and Zaremba clashed with Tchaikovsky when he submitted his First Symphony for performance by

1440-521: A tutor, bought an orchestrion , a form of barrel organ that could imitate elaborate orchestral effects, and encouraged his piano study for both aesthetic and practical reasons. However, they decided in 1850 to send Tchaikovsky to the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg. They had both graduated from institutes in Saint Petersburg and the School of Jurisprudence, which mainly served

1512-510: A wide stylistic and emotional range, from light salon works to grand symphonies. Some of his works, such as the Variations on a Rococo Theme , employ a "Classical" form reminiscent of 18th-century composers such as Mozart (his favorite composer). Other compositions, such as his Little Russian symphony and his opera Vakula the Smith , flirt with musical practices more akin to those of

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1584-581: Is attributed to cholera , caused by drinking unboiled water at a local restaurant . In the 1980s in Britain, however, there was academic speculation that he killed himself, either with poison or by contracting cholera intentionally; in the New Grove Dictionary of Music , Roland John Wiley wrote: "the polemics over Tchaikovsky's death have reached an impasse … . As for illness, problems of evidence offer little hope of satisfactory resolution:

1656-442: The 1812 Overture , would be "very loud and noisy, but I wrote it with no warm feeling of love, and therefore there will probably be no artistic merits in it". He also warned conductor Eduard Nápravník that "I shan't be at all surprised and offended if you find that it is in a style unsuitable for symphony concerts". Nevertheless, the overture became, for many, "the piece by Tchaikovsky they know best", particularly well-known for

1728-596: The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow for performances of his opera Cherevichki . Within a year, he was in considerable demand throughout Europe and Russia. These appearances helped him overcome life-long stage fright and boosted his self-assurance. In 1888, Tchaikovsky led the premiere of his Fifth Symphony in Saint Petersburg, repeating the work a week later with the first performance of his tone poem Hamlet . Although critics proved hostile, with César Cui calling

1800-512: The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour nearing completion in Moscow in 1880, the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II in 1881, and the 1882 Moscow Arts and Industry Exhibition in the planning stage, Nikolai Rubinstein suggested that Tchaikovsky compose a grand commemorative piece. Tchaikovsky agreed and finished it within six weeks. He wrote to Nadezhda von Meck that this piece,

1872-618: The Erie Symphony Orchestra , Erie Phil's earliest iteration, was born. It lasted just over two years, with its final concert held on 20 February 1916. On 30 January 1921, the orchestra was reorganized as the Second Symphony Orchestra. It lasted five years, with its final concert held on 2 May 1926. The First Philharmonic held its first concert on 8 February 1921. The Second Philharmonic held its first concert on 7 February 1932. The Erie Phil disbanded for

1944-591: The First Piano Concerto , did not help matters. His popularity grew, however, as several first-rate artists became willing to perform his compositions. Hans von Bülow premiered the First Piano Concerto and championed other Tchaikovsky works both as pianist and conductor. Other artists included Adele aus der Ohe , Max Erdmannsdörfer , Eduard Nápravník and Sergei Taneyev . Another factor that helped Tchaikovsky's music become popular

2016-461: The Order of Saint Vladimir (fourth class), which included a title of hereditary nobility and a personal audience with the Tsar. This was seen as a seal of official approval which advanced Tchaikovsky's social standing and might have been cemented in the composer's mind by the success of his Orchestral Suite No. 3 at its January 1885 premiere in Saint Petersburg. In 1885, Alexander III requested

2088-588: The Romantic period . He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker , the 1812 Overture , his First Piano Concerto , Violin Concerto , the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies , and

2160-588: The Russian Musical Society in Saint Petersburg. Rubinstein and Zaremba refused to consider the work unless substantial changes were made. Tchaikovsky complied but they still refused to perform the symphony. Tchaikovsky, distressed that he had been treated as though he were still their student, withdrew the symphony. It was given its first complete performance, minus the changes Rubinstein and Zaremba had requested, in Moscow in February 1868. Once Tchaikovsky graduated in 1865, Rubinstein's brother Nikolai offered him

2232-603: The Russian Musical Society , critic Vladimir Stasov and an 18-year-old pianist, Mily Balakirev , met and agreed upon a nationalist agenda for Russian music, one that would take the operas of Mikhail Glinka as a model and incorporate elements from folk music, reject traditional Western practices and use non-Western harmonic devices such as the whole tone and octatonic scales . They saw Western-style conservatories as unnecessary and antipathetic to fostering native talent. Balakirev, César Cui , Modest Mussorgsky , Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin became known as

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2304-518: The Russian Symphony Concerts , devoted exclusively to the music of Russian composers. One included the first complete performance of his revised First Symphony; another featured the final version of Third Symphony of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , with whose circle Tchaikovsky was already in touch. Rimsky-Korsakov, with Alexander Glazunov , Anatoly Lyadov and several other nationalistically-minded composers and musicians, had formed

2376-633: The Violin Concerto . He returned briefly to the Moscow Conservatory in the autumn of 1879. For the next few years, assured of a regular income from von Meck, he traveled incessantly throughout Europe and rural Russia, mainly alone, and avoided social contact whenever possible. During this time, Tchaikovsky's foreign reputation grew and a positive reassessment of his music also took place in Russia, thanks in part to Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky 's call for "universal unity" with

2448-592: The moguchaya kuchka , translated into English as the "Mighty Handful" or "The Five" . Rubinstein criticized their emphasis on amateur efforts in musical composition; Balakirev and later Mussorgsky attacked Rubinstein for his musical conservatism and his belief in professional music training. Tchaikovsky and his fellow conservatory students were caught in the middle. While ambivalent about much of The Five's music, Tchaikovsky remained on friendly terms with most of its members. In 1869, he and Balakirev worked together on what became Tchaikovsky's first recognized masterpiece,

2520-499: The 19th century and certainly of any Russian composer of his time. It has also at times caused considerable confusion, from Soviet efforts to expunge all references to homosexuality and portray him as a heterosexual, to efforts at analysis by Western biographers. Biographers have generally agreed that Tchaikovsky was homosexual . He sought the company of other men in his circle for extended periods, "associating openly and establishing professional connections with them." His first love

2592-504: The Hay Maidens , in his opera The Voyevoda ). From 1867 to 1878, Tchaikovsky combined his professorial duties with music criticism while continuing to compose. This activity exposed him to a range of contemporary music and afforded him the opportunity to travel abroad. In his reviews, he praised Beethoven , considered Brahms overrated and, despite his admiration, took Schumann to task for poor orchestration. He appreciated

2664-483: The Imperial School of Jurisprudence to begin a seven-year course of studies. Tchaikovsky's early separation from his mother, despite the aforementioned alleged distant relationship, caused an emotional trauma that lasted the rest of his life and was intensified by her death from cholera in 1854 when he was 14. The loss of his mother also prompted Tchaikovsky to make his first serious attempt at composition,

2736-598: The Tsar made an indelible impression on him as a child and whose scoring he studied assiduously; and Adolphe Adam , whose ballet Giselle was a favorite of his from his student days and whose score he consulted while working on The Sleeping Beauty . Beethoven's string quartets may have influenced Tchaikovsky's attempts in that medium. Other composers whose work interested Tchaikovsky included Hector Berlioz , Felix Mendelssohn , Giacomo Meyerbeer , Gioachino Rossini , Giuseppe Verdi , Vincenzo Bellini , Carl Maria von Weber and Henry Litolff . Tchaikovsky displayed

2808-622: The West at the unveiling of the Pushkin Monument in Moscow in 1880. Before Dostoevsky's speech, Tchaikovsky's music had been considered "overly dependent on the West". As Dostoevsky's message spread throughout Russia, this stigma toward Tchaikovsky's music evaporated. The unprecedented acclaim for him even drew a cult following among the young intelligentsia of Saint Petersburg, including Alexandre Benois , Léon Bakst and Sergei Diaghilev . Two musical works from this period stand out. With

2880-462: The collapse of his 13-year association with the wealthy patroness Nadezhda von Meck . Tchaikovsky's homosexuality, which he kept private, has traditionally also been considered a major factor though some scholars have played down its importance. His dedication of his Sixth symphony to his nephew Vladimir "Bob" Davydov and his feelings expressed about Davydov in letters to others, especially following Davydov's suicide, have been cited as evidence for

2952-468: The composer's same-sex attraction, have been published, as have letters previously suppressed by Soviet censors in which Tchaikovsky openly writes of it. Such censorship has persisted in the Russian government, resulting in many officials, including the former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky , denying his homosexuality outright. Passages in Tchaikovsky's letters which reveal his homosexual desires have been censored in Russia. In one such passage he said of

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3024-541: The contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of The Five with whom his professional relationship was mixed . Tchaikovsky's training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From that reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style. The principles that governed melody, harmony, and other fundamentals of Russian music diverged from those that governed Western European music, which seemed to defeat

3096-428: The country's national identity, an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovsky's career. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. Contributory factors included his early separation from his mother for boarding school followed by his mother's early death, the death of his close friend and colleague Nikolai Rubinstein , his failed marriage with Antonina Miliukova , and

3168-475: The duration of World War II , then incorporated on 23 September 1947. It has performed in Erie ever since. The Erie Philharmonic Chorus was formed in 1953, and the Erie Junior Philharmonic was established in 1947. Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( / tʃ aɪ ˈ k ɒ f s k i / chy- KOF -skee ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during

3240-731: The fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet , a work which The Five wholeheartedly embraced. The group also welcomed his Second Symphony , later nicknamed the Little Russian . Despite their support, Tchaikovsky made considerable efforts to ensure his musical independence from the group as well as from the conservative faction at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The infrequency of Tchaikovsky's musical successes, won with tremendous effort, exacerbated his lifelong sensitivity to criticism. Nikolai Rubinstein's private fits of rage critiquing his music, such as attacking

3312-435: The gap between Tchaikovsky and his peers. They regularly attended the opera and Tchaikovsky would improvise at the school's harmonium on themes he and his friends had sung during choir practice. "We were amused," Vladimir Gerard later remembered, "but not imbued with any expectations of his future glory". Tchaikovsky also continued his piano studies through Franz Becker, an instrument manufacturer who made occasional visits to

3384-409: The home market also helped boost the composer's popularity. During the late 1860s, Tchaikovsky began to compose operas. His first, The Voyevoda , based on a play by Alexander Ostrovsky , premiered in 1869. The composer became dissatisfied with it, however, and, having re-used parts of it in later works, destroyed the manuscript. Undina followed in 1870. Only excerpts were performed and it, too,

3456-476: The lesser nobility and thought that this education would prepare Tchaikovsky for a career as a civil servant. Regardless of talent, the only musical careers available in Russia at that time—except for the affluent aristocracy—were as a teacher in an academy or as an instrumentalist in one of the Imperial Theaters. Both were considered on the lowest rank of the social ladder, with individuals in them enjoying no more rights than peasants. Tchaikovsky's father's income

3528-408: The libretto himself, modeling his dramatic technique on that of Eugène Scribe . Cui wrote a "characteristically savage press attack" on the opera. Mussorgsky, writing to Vladimir Stasov , disapproved of the opera as pandering to the public. Nevertheless, The Oprichnik continues to be performed from time to time in Russia. The last of the early operas, Vakula the Smith (Op. 14), was composed in

3600-456: The music for its Western elements. In an apparent reinforcement of the latter claim, some Europeans lauded Tchaikovsky for offering music more substantive than exoticism , and said he transcended the stereotypes of Russian classical music. Others dismissed Tchaikovsky's music as deficient because it did not stringently follow Western principles. Tchaikovsky was born on 7 May 1840 in Votkinsk ,

3672-466: The nickname 'Bob', would become very close to him. In 1844, the family hired Fanny Dürbach, a 22-year-old French governess. Four-and-a-half-year-old Tchaikovsky was initially thought too young to study alongside his older brother Nikolai and a niece of the family. His insistence convinced Dürbach otherwise. By the age of six, he had become fluent in French and German. Tchaikovsky also became attached to

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3744-478: The opera Christmas Eve , based on the same story. Other works of this period include the Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra, the Third and Fourth Symphonies , the ballet Swan Lake , and the opera Eugene Onegin . Tchaikovsky remained abroad for a year after the disintegration of his marriage. During this time, he completed Eugene Onegin , orchestrated his Fourth Symphony, and composed

3816-474: The opera Eugene Onegin . Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant as there was little opportunity for a musical career in Russia at the time and no system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory , from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching that Tchaikovsky received there set him apart from composers of

3888-552: The post of Professor of Music Theory at the soon-to-open Moscow Conservatory . While the salary for his professorship was only 50 rubles a month, the offer itself boosted Tchaikovsky's morale and he accepted the post eagerly. He was further heartened by news of the first public performance of one of his works, his Characteristic Dances , conducted by Johann Strauss II at a concert in Pavlovsk Park on 11 September 1865 (Tchaikovsky later included this work, re-titled Dances of

3960-453: The potential for using Russian music in large-scale Western composition or for forming a composite style, and it caused personal antipathies that dented Tchaikovsky's self-confidence. Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great . That resulted in uncertainty among the intelligentsia about

4032-622: The premiere of his Sixth Symphony , the Pathétique , in Saint Petersburg. Nine days later, on 6 November, Tchaikovsky died there, aged 53. He was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery , near the graves of fellow-composers Alexander Borodin , Mikhail Glinka , and Modest Mussorgsky ; later, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Mily Balakirev were also buried nearby. Tchaikovsky's death

4104-428: The school; however, the results, according to musicologist David Brown , were "negligible". In 1855, Tchaikovsky's father funded private lessons with Rudolph Kündinger and questioned him about a musical career for his son. While impressed with the boy's talent, Kündinger said he saw nothing to suggest a future composer or performer. He later admitted that his assessment was also based on his own negative experiences as

4176-522: The second half of 1874. The libretto, based on Gogol 's Christmas Eve , was to have been set to music by Alexander Serov . With Serov's death, the libretto was opened to a competition with a guarantee that the winning entry would be premiered by the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre . Tchaikovsky was declared the winner, but at the 1876 premiere, the opera enjoyed only a lukewarm reception. After Tchaikovsky's death, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote

4248-450: The sometimes sensitive relations among various members of the staff. He served as director of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society during the 1889–1890 season. In this post, he invited many international celebrities to conduct, including Johannes Brahms , Antonín Dvořák and Jules Massenet . During this period, Tchaikovsky also began promoting Russian music as a conductor, In January 1887, he substituted, on short notice, at

4320-506: The staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at its inaugural performance in Bayreuth (Germany), but not the music, calling Das Rheingold "unlikely nonsense, through which, from time to time, sparkle unusually beautiful and astonishing details". A recurring theme he addressed was the poor state of Russian opera . In 1856, while Tchaikovsky was still at the School of Jurisprudence and Anton Rubinstein lobbied aristocrats to form

4392-451: The state of diagnosis; the confusion of witnesses; disregard of long-term effects of smoking and alcohol. We do not know how Tchaikovsky died. We may never find out." Of Tchaikovsky's Western predecessors, Robert Schumann stands out as an influence in formal structure, harmonic practices, and piano writing, according to Brown and musicologist Roland John Wiley . Boris Asafyev comments that Schumann left his mark on Tchaikovsky not just as

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4464-602: The symphony "routine" and "meretricious", both works were received with extreme enthusiasm by audiences and Tchaikovsky, undeterred, continued to conduct the symphony in Russia and Europe. Conducting brought him to the United States in 1891, where he led the New York Music Society's orchestra in his Festival Coronation March at the inaugural concert of Carnegie Hall . In November 1887, Tchaikovsky arrived at Saint Petersburg in time to hear several of

4536-706: The two. The degree to which the composer might have felt comfortable with his sexual desires has, however, remained open to debate. It is still unknown whether Tchaikovsky, according to musicologist and biographer David Brown , "felt tainted within himself, defiled by something from which he finally realized he could never escape" or whether, according to Alexander Poznansky , he experienced "no unbearable guilt" over his sexual desires and "eventually came to see his sexual peculiarities as an insurmountable and even natural part of his personality ... without experiencing any serious psychological damage". Relevant portions of his brother Modest's autobiography, where he tells of

4608-778: The use of cannon in the scores. On 23 March 1881, Nikolai Rubinstein died in Paris. That December, Tchaikovsky started work on his Piano Trio in A ;minor , "dedicated to the memory of a great artist". First performed privately at the Moscow Conservatory on the first anniversary of Rubinstein's death, the piece became extremely popular during the composer's lifetime; in November 1893, it would become Tchaikovsky's own elegy at memorial concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1884, Tchaikovsky began to shed his unsociability and restlessness. That March, Emperor Alexander III conferred upon him

4680-400: The widow of a railway magnate, who had begun contact with him not long before the marriage. As well as an important friend and emotional support, she became his patroness for the next 13 years, which allowed him to focus exclusively on composition. Although Tchaikovsky called her his "best friend", they agreed never to meet under any circumstances. On 16/28 October 1893, Tchaikovsky conducted

4752-512: The young woman; her affection for him was reportedly a counter to his mother's coldness and emotional distance from him, though others assert that the mother doted on her son. Dürbach saved much of Tchaikovsky's work from this period, including his earliest known compositions, and became a source of several childhood anecdotes. Tchaikovsky began piano lessons at age five. Within three years he had become as adept at reading sheet music as his teacher. Tchaikovsky's parents, initially supportive, hired

4824-455: Was a shift in attitude among Russian audiences. Whereas they had previously been satisfied with flashy virtuoso performances of technically demanding but musically lightweight works, they gradually began listening with increasing appreciation of the composition itself. Tchaikovsky's works were performed frequently, with few delays between their composition and first performances; the publication from 1867 onward of his songs and great piano music for

4896-425: Was also growing increasingly uncertain, so both parents may have wanted Tchaikovsky to become independent as soon as possible. As the minimum age for acceptance was 12 and Tchaikovsky was only 10 at the time, he was required to spend two years boarding at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence's preparatory school, 1,300 kilometres (800 mi) from his family. Once those two years had passed, Tchaikovsky transferred to

4968-434: Was destroyed. Between these projects, Tchaikovsky started to compose an opera called Mandragora , to a libretto by Sergei Rachinskii; the only music he completed was a short chorus of Flowers and Insects. The first Tchaikovsky opera to survive intact, The Oprichnik , premiered in 1874. During its composition, he lost Ostrovsky's part-finished libretto. Tchaikovsky, too embarrassed to ask for another copy, decided to write

5040-482: Was of French and German ethnicity through her paternal side. Both Ilya and Alexandra were trained in the arts, including music. Of his six siblings, Tchaikovsky was close to his sister Alexandra and twin brothers Anatoly and Modest . Alexandra's marriage to Lev Davydov would produce seven children and lend Tchaikovsky the only real family life he would know as an adult, especially during his years of wandering. One of those children, Vladimir Davydov , who went by

5112-453: Was reportedly Sergey Kireyev, a younger fellow student at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence. According to Modest Tchaikovsky , this was Pyotr Ilyich's "strongest, longest and purest love". Tchaikovsky's dedication of his Sixth symphony to his nephew Vladimir "Bob" Davydov (21 at the time) and his feelings expressed about Davydov in letters to others, especially following Davydov's suicide, has been cited as evidence for romantic love between

5184-550: Was to fulfill Alexander II's wish to foster native talent. It hosted a regular season of public concerts (previously held only during the six weeks of Lent when the Imperial Theaters were closed) and provided basic professional training in music. In 1861, Tchaikovsky attended RMS classes in music theory taught by Nikolai Zaremba at the Mikhailovsky Palace (now the Russian Museum ). These classes were

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