We assume that Tchaikovsky was always
destined to be a great musician, but in
fact his respected piano teacher, Rudolf
Kundinger, tried hard to dissuade him from
a musical career. Fortunately for us all,
Kundingers advice was ignored.
Born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, the 7th of May
1840, Tchaikovsky was the second eldest of
six children. At the age of six he could
read French and German and at seven wrote
verses in French and began piano lessons.
He spent the first eight years of his life
comparatively settled, but in 1848 his
father, a mining engineer, resigned his
government post which brought about a
difficult period of constant moves. In 1850
Tchaikovsky began attending the St.
Petersburg School of Jurisprudence,
becoming a clerk in the Ministry of Justice
in 1859. He studied with Nicolai Zaremba
until the opening of the new St. Petersburg
Conservatory in 1862, to which he
transferred. The next year Tchaikovsky left
his job in the Ministry of Justice to study
full time at the Conservatory.
Anton Rubenstein, the director of the
conservatory, took an interest in
Tchaikovsky and had him study everything
including conducting. He was always
terrified of facing an orchestra (even when
in great demand as a conductor), fearing
his head would fall from his shoulders. For
that reason he conducted with his left hand
under his chin to keep it attached.
Graduating after four years he went on
to teach for twelve years at the Moscow
Conservatory, where he began to compose. In
his first two years there he had already
written his first symphony and the opera
Voyevoda. In 1868 he met with the
famous group of young Russian composers
"The Five" - Balakirev, Borodin, Cui,
Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Although he
greatly admired them and wrote his second
symphony in response to their fervor, he
never joined the group and in the end
thought of them as more internationalists
than true Russians.
From 1869 to 1875 he wrote three more
operas and became music critic for
Russkiye Vedomosti in 1872.
In 1877 one of his pupils, Antonina
Milyokova, declared her love for
Tchaikovsky and hinted at suicide unless he
would marry her. So involved was he in the
composition of Eugene Onegin that he
could not find it in himself to callously
reject her as had Onegin rejected Tatiana.
In a bid for conventionality he married
her, but after a disastrous nine weeks they
separated. Tchaikovsky attempted suicide by
drowning but was saved by his brother,
Modeste, only to suffer a nervous
breakdown. Tchaikovsky moved to Switzerland
to recover and later to Italy. He continued
his financial support of Antonina until his
death. For her part, she took on a series
of lovers and finally died in an asylum in
1917.
It was at this time that Tchaikosky came
under the patronage of Madame Nadezhda von
Meck who gave him a yearly allowance
permitting him to give up teaching and
devote his time to composition. They never
met each other, but their correspondence
was extensive and frank. He wrote his
fourth symphony in dedication to Mme. von
Meck.
Tchaikovsky became well regarded in
Russia and also in Britain and the United
States. In 1885 he moved to a country house
in Klin where he lived in virtual isolation
and wrote Manfred. 1888 and 1889
brought tours as a conductor to Germany,
France and England. After the production of
The Sleeping Beauty in 1890,
Tchaikovsky went to Florence to work on his
opera The Queen of Spades which was
produced in St. Petersburg later that year.
This was also the time when his sponsorship
by Mme. von Meck ended, due either to her
illness or pressure from her family.
Although he no longer relied on her
financial support, this was a dreadful blow
to Tchaikovskys self esteem from which he
never recovered.
1891 brought the very successful tour of
the United States and Tchaikovsky's
appearance at the opening of the Music Hall
(renamed Carnegie Hall), followed the next
year with the premiere of The
Nutcracker. In 1893 he received an
honorary doctorate of music from Cambridge
University. The sixth symphony, having been
begun in 1891 but abandoned, was completed
in 1893. Tchaikovsky believed it to be his
best work. The critics were not too kind. A
few days later, November 6, 1893,
Tchaikovsky died of cholera, probably the
result of drinking a glass of unboiled
water.
It has often been proposed that since
Tchaikovsky's contacts with people were
often unsatisfactory, his music became the
expression of his emotions. While it is
often pervaded by melancholy, there are
times when the composer could shake off his
gloom and write some of the most buoyant
and brightest music ever heard. This he was
able to achieve in The Nutcracker
which came at a very low ebb in his
affairs.
Tchaikovsky raised the status of ballet
music to previously unknown distinction.
Such a revolution, however, did not happen
instantly. In his lifetime his ballet music
was considered too symphonic, much as some
of today's critics claim his symphonies are
too balletic. It is difficult to understand
why either should be considered a flaw.
Tchaikovsky loved danceable music,
particularly that of Mozart who was one of
his favorite composers. Tchaikovskys music,
imbued with its sweeping lyricism,
richness, and danceable qualities is a
frequent choice of inspiration for
choreographers
http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Tchaikovsky.html