Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk,
Vyatka region, Russia. He was the second of six children (five brothers
and one sister). His father, named Ilya Chaikovsky, was a mining
business executive in Votkinsk. His father's ancestors were from
Ukraine and Poland. His mother, named Aleksandra Assier, was of Russian
and French ancestry.
Tchaikovsky played piano since the age of 5, he also enjoyed his
mother's playing and singing. He was a sensitive and emotional child,
and became deeply traumatized by the death of his mother of cholera, in
1854. At that time he was sent to a boarding school in St. Petersburg.
He graduated from the St. Petersburg School of Law in 1859, then worked
for 3 years at the Justice Department of Russian Empire. In 1862-1865
he studied music under Anton Rubinstein at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In
1866-1878 he was a professor of theory and harmony at the Moscow
Conservatory. At that time he met Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz, who visited
Russia with concert tours. During that period Tchaikovsky wrote his
first ballet 'The Swan Lake', opera 'Eugene Onegin', four Symphonies,
and the brilliant Piano Concerto No1.
As a young man Tchaikovsky suffered traumatic personal experiences. He
was sincerely attached to a beautiful soprano, named Desiree Artot, but
their engagement was destroyed by her mother and she married another
man. His homosexuality was causing him a painful guilt feeling. In 1876
he wrote to his brother, Modest, about his decision to "marry whoever
will have me." One of his admirers, a Moscow Conservatory student
Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova, was persistently writing him love letters.
She threatened to take her life if Tchaikovsky didn't marry her. Their
brief marriage in the summer of 1877 lasted only a few weeks and caused
him a nervous breakdown. He even made a suicide attempt by throwing
himself into a river. In September of 1877 Tchaikovsky separated from
Milyukova. She eventually ended up in an insane asylum, where she spent
over 20 years and died. They never saw each other again. Although their
marriage was terminated legally, Tchaikovsky generously supported her
financially until his death.
Tchaikovsky was ordered by the doctors to leave Russia until his
emotional health was restored. He went to live in Europe for a few
years. Tchaikovsky settled together with his brother, Modest, in a
quiet village of Clarens on Lake Geneva in Switzerland and lived there
in 1877-1878. There he wrote his very popular Violin Concerto in D. He
also completed his Symphony No.4, which was inspired by Russian folk
songs, and dedicated it to Nadezhda von Meck. From 1877 to 1890
Tchaikovsky was financially supported by a wealthy widow Nadezhda von
Meck, who also supported Claude Debussy. She loved Tchaikovsky's music and
became his devoted pen-friend. They exchanged over a thousand letters
in 14 years; but they never met, at her insistence. In 1890 she
abruptly terminated all communication and support, claiming bankruptcy.
Tchaikovsky played an important role in the artistic development of
Sergei Rachmaninoff. They met in 1886, when Rachmaninov was only 13 years old, and
studied the music of Tchaikovsky under the tutelage of their mutual
friend, composer Aleksandr Zverev. Tchaikovsky was the member of the
Moscow conservatory graduation board. He joined many other musicians in
recommendation that Rachmaninov was to be awarded the Gold Medal in
1892. Later Tchaikovsky was involved in popularization of Rachmaninov's
graduation work, opera 'Aleko'. Upon Tchaikovsky's promotion
Rachmaninov's opera "Aleko" was included in the repertory and performed
at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
In 1883-1893 Tchaikovsky wrote his best Symphonies No.5 and No.6,
ballets 'The Sleeping Beauty' and 'The Nutcracker', operas 'The Queen
of Spades' and 'Iolanta'. In 1888-1889, he made a successful conducting
tour of Europe, appearing in Prague, Leipzig, Hamburg, Paris, and
London. In 1891, he went on a two month tour of America, where he gave
concerts in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In May of 1891
Tchaikovsky was the conductor on the official opening night of Carnegie
Hall in New York. He was a friend of Edvard Grieg and Antonín Dvorák. In 1892 he
heard Gustav Mahler conducting his opera 'Eugene Onegin' in Hamburg.
Tchaikovsky himself conducted the premiere of his Symphony No.6 in St.
Petersburg, Russia, on the 16th of October, 1893. A week later he died
of cholera after having a glass of tap water. He was laid to rest in
the Necropolis of Artists at St. Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery in St.
Petersburg, Russia.
