About Tchaikovsky

Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky was born in a distant province of Russia in 1840.  He was the second child of a large family.  Peter was an exceptional child – he could read in German and French by the age of 6, and composed on secular and metaphysical subjects far beyond his tender age.  He also began piano lessons at the age of 6.  Tchaikovsky graduated from law school at the age of 19 and seemed destined for a career in government.

     The pull of music never left Tchaikovsky, however, and after four years of government work, he resigned and enrolled in the new St. Petersburg Conservatory where he studied theory and composition under Anton Rubinstein.  In addition, Tchaikovsky also studied the piano, flute and organ.  Tchaikovsky was one of the first graduates of the school when he graduated 2 years later with exceptional composition technique and enormous potential.

     Following his graduation from St Petersburg, Tchaikovsky immediately found work teaching at the new Moscow Conservatory where he remained for 12 years.  In 1877, Tchaikovsky married Antonina Milyukova.  The marriage proved to be an absolute disaster, and after 2 months, on the verge of a nervous breakdown and fearing a loss of musical creativity, Tchaikovsky left.

     Tchaikovsky drew his musical ideas mostly from the music of Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann as well as from Russian popular and folk music.  He developed and composed music across many genres including: operas, ballets (one of which was The Nutcracker Suite), symphonies, piano and violin concertos, symphonic poems and overtures, and chamber music and songs.  He was not only a composer, but also in high demand as a conductor.  He travelled to America where he was invited to conduct the New York Symphony at the opening of Carnegie Hall.

     In 1893 Tchaikovsky composed his Sixth and final symphony, which he conducted himself during its premiere performance in October 1895.  5 days after the performance, he fell ill and despite doctors' best efforts, he died on November 6, 1893 at St. Petersburg.

 Questions:

 

Note:  You may not refer back to the information on this page to answer these questions.

 

  1. What country did Tchaikovsky come from?  
  2. True/False:  Tchaikovsky immediately entered the St. Petersberg Conservatory and graduated with a music degree at the age of 19? 
  3. List 3 musical genres in which Tchaikovsky composed… 

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