Born into a middle class family, prodigal composer Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky was one of the six siblings of which five were brothers and one sister. He took piano training by the age of four. At times he showed exceptional talent and used to surpass the abilities of his teacher. As he was extremely emotional, he encountered severe nervous problems by the age of nine. He was sent to St. Petersburg to study at the School of Jurisprudence. He was extremely shocked of his mother’s death in 1854. He studied harmony with Zaremba after getting admitted at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1861. Besides this, he studied music with Anton Rubinstein. Although Tchaikovsky had a job in the Ministry of Justice in 1859, he worked hard to make a career in music without missing a single opportunity to attend concerts and operas.
Tchaikovsky shifted to Moscow in 1866 and worked as a professor of harmony at the new conservatory. Once reaching Moscow, he began work of his first Symphony formally but unfortunately suffered a nervous breakdown during its composition. His opera work the Voyevoda became public in 1867-1868. By then, he had already started working on the Oprichnik, which was released in 1870. His other prominent compositions of that... show more

Born into a middle class family, prodigal composer Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky was one of the six siblings of which five were brothers and one sister. He took piano training by the age of four. At times he showed exceptional talent and used to surpass the abilities of his teacher. As he was extremely emotional, he encountered severe nervous problems by the age of nine. He was sent to St. Petersburg to study at the School of Jurisprudence. He was extremely shocked of his mother’s death in 1854. He studied harmony with Zaremba after getting admitted at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1861. Besides this, he studied music with Anton Rubinstein. Although Tchaikovsky had a job in the Ministry of Justice in 1859, he worked hard to make a career in music without missing a single opportunity to attend concerts and operas.
Tchaikovsky shifted to Moscow in 1866 and worked as a professor of harmony at the new conservatory. Once reaching Moscow, he began work of his first Symphony formally but unfortunately suffered a nervous breakdown during its composition. His opera work the Voyevoda became public in 1867-1868. By then, he had already started working on the Oprichnik, which was released in 1870. His other prominent compositions of that period were the First String Quartet (1871), second Symphony (1873) and the ballet Swan Lake (1875).
Tchaikovsky traveled to Paris with his brother Modest in 1876. He visited Bayreuth to meet Liszt but got misguided by Wagner. By 1877, he had already emerged as one of the prominent composers of that era. He had already premiered the Swan Lake in that year and worked for the fourth Symphony (1877-1878). The ironical step to marry his obsessed fan, Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova even though being a homosexual proved fatal for him. Resultantly, this union ended in disaster in a few months time. The situation soured further in the midst of this personal turmoil when he did an abortive suicidal attempt. A woman named Nadezhda von Meck became his patron and frequent correspondent when his crisis lessened.
His career took new turn by 1880 after premiering several brilliant works including Serenade for Strings (1881), 1812 Overture (1882) and the fifth Symphony (1888). By then his personal problems had already solved. His highly fruitful European tours in 1888 and 1889 helped him emerge as a successful conductor hence he got an opportunity to meet Brahms, Grieg, Dvorák, Gounod and many other prominent musicians. He premiered his next two successful works, Sleeping Beauty in 1890 and the Nutcracker in 1892. His manifold success continued when he wrote excellent classical musical themes. By that period, he was already concentrating on his other compositional themes instead of doing any sort of social work. His music exemplified the power of classicism even though it didn’t depict a bolder element or any harmonic sophistication. This distinction can be seen in his works while being compared with that of his contemporaries Wagner and Bruckner. His melodic charm is vibrant in Piano Concerto No. 1, Nutcracker ballet and last tragic symphony, whose peculiarity is in the first hearing itself. His journey to Paris and the USA for the dark nervous episode in 1891 was excellent. He wrote and premiered his sixth symphony, Pathétique in 1893. Tchaikovsky died of cholera in 1893. But there are other presumptions as well. It is believed that he consumed poison as he was awarded death sentence from the School of Jurisprudence after a complaint by his classmate for his alleged homosexual advancements. He was very depressed before dying.
show less