This is an addendum to the article, Tchaikovsky ~
1812 Overture (
link below), which celebrated the birth of the composer.
~ ~ ~
With the death of his mother from
cholera in 1854, when he was fourteen, the loss prompted Tchaikovsky to make his first serious attempt at composition, a
waltz in her memory.
The works of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are among the most popular music in the
classical
repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a
lasting impression internationally. Even though he was musically
precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a
civil servant. He entered the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory,
from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching
he received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary
nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of
The Five. His 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 this reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian
style. The principles that governed melody, harmony and other fundamentals of
Russian music ran completely counter to those that governed Western
European music; this seemed to defeat the potential for using Russian
music in large-scale Western composition or from forming a composite
style, and it caused personal antipathies that dented Tchaikovsky's
self-confidence.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Moscow Conservatory
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 the music for its Western elements. In an apparent
reinforcement of the latter claim, some Europeans lauded Tchaikovsky for
offering music more substantive than base
exoticism,
and said he transcended stereotypes of Russian classical music. Others
dismissed Tchaikovsky's music as "lacking in elevated thought,"
according to longtime
New York Times music critic
Harold C. Schonberg, and derided its formal workings as deficient because they did not stringently follow Western principles.
Many of Tchaikovsky's works have
Ukrainian subjects or incorporate Ukrainian folk songs or melodies. Among these are the operas
Mazepa (based on
Aleksandr Pushkin's poem),
Little Shoes, and
Night before Christmas (or
Vakula the Smith, based on
Nikolai Gogol's story); symphonies No. 2 (
Little Russian), No. 4, and No. 7 (finished and edited by
Semyon Bogatyrev); the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B-flat Minor; the
1812 Overture, the opening of which is based on the first mode of the
Kievan chant; the transcription for piano solo of
Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky's orchestral fantasy
Kozachok; and songs to Russian translations of
Taras Shevchenko, such as
‘Sadok Vyshnevyi’ (Cherry Orchard).
Discussion
of Tchaikovsky's personal life, especially his sexuality, has been the
most extensive of any composer in 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 same-sex attraction and portray him as a heterosexual,
He sought the company of other men in his circle for extended periods,
"associating openly and establishing professional connections with
them."
However, the degree to which the composer might have felt comfortable
with his sexual nature has remained open to debate. Relevant portions of his brother Modest's autobiography, where he tells
of the composer's sexual orientation, have been published, as have
letters previously suppressed by Soviet censors in which Tchaikovsky
openly writes of it.
Tchaikovsky lived as a bachelor for most of his life. In 1868 he met Belgian soprano
Désirée Artôt.
They became infatuated with each other and were engaged to be married
but due to Artôt's refusal to give up the stage or settle in Russia, 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 a half months before
Tchaikovsky left. Tchaikovsky's family remained supportive of him during
this crisis and throughout his life. He was also aided by
Nadezhda von Meck,
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.
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.
From October 28 to November 9, 1893, Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of his
Sixth Symphony, the
Pathétique, in Saint Petersburg. Nine days later, Tchaikovsky died there. 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, a Russian pianist, conductor and composer, were also buried nearby.
Tchaikovsky's death has often been attributed to
cholera, contracted through drinking contaminated water
from the local river, but many writers have theorized his death was a suicide. He was 53 years old when he died.
Viewfinder links:
1812 Overture
The Nutcracker
Symphony #6: (Pathétique)
Swan Lake
Van Cliburn
PIL (Public Image Ltd.)
John Willimas ~ A Soundtrack King
Styrous® ~ Monday, May 9, 2016
