I INTRODUCTION
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich (1840-1893)
Was a Russian composer, the
foremost of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, in the western
Ural area of the country. He studied law in Saint Petersburg and took music
classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. There his teachers included Russian
composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein, from whom Tchaikovsky subsequently took
advanced instruction in orchestration. In 1866 composer-pianist Nicholas
Rubinstein, Anton's brother, obtained for Tchaikovsky the post of teacher of
harmony at the Moscow Conservatory. There the young composer met dramatist
Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, who wrote the libretto for Tchaikovsky's
first opera, The Voyevoda (1868). From this period also date his operas Undine
(1869) and The Oprichnik (1872); the Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat Minor
(1875); the symphonies no. 1 (called "Winter Dreams,"1868), no. 2
(1873; subsequently revised and titled "Little Russian"), and no. 3
(1875); and the overture Romeo and Juliet (1870; revised in 1870 and 1880). The
B-flat piano concerto was dedicated originally to Nicholas Rubinstein, who
pronounced it unplayable. Deeply injured, Tchaikovsky made extensive
alterations in the work and reinscribed it to German pianist Hans Guido von
Bülow, who rewarded the courtesy by performing the concerto on the occasion of
his first concert tour of the United States (1875-1876). Rubinstein later
acknowledged the merit of the revised composition and made it a part of his own
repertoire. Well known for its dramatic first movement and skillful use of
folklike melodies, it subsequently became one of the most frequently played of
all piano concertos.
II PERIOD OF
PRODUCTIVITY
In 1876 Tchaikovsky became
acquainted with Madam Nadejda von Meck, a wealthy widow, whose enthusiasm for
the composer's music led her to give him an annual allowance. Fourteen years
later, however, Madame von Meck, believing herself financially ruined, abruptly
terminated the subsidy. Although Tchaikovsky's other sources of income were by
then adequate to sustain him, he was wounded by the sudden defection of his
patron without apparent cause, and he never forgave her. The period of his
connection with Madame von Meck was one of rich productivity for Tchaikovsky. To
this time belong the operas Eugene Onegin (1879), The Maid of Orleans (1879),
Mazeppa (1883), and The Sorceress (1887); the ballets Swan Lake (1876) and The
Sleeping Beauty (1889); the Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra (1876)
and the Violin Concerto in D Major (1878); the orchestral works Marche Slave
(1876), Francesca da Rimini (1876), Symphony no. 4 in F Minor (1877), Overture
1812 (1880), Capriccio Italien (1880), Serenade (1880), Manfred symphony
(1885), Symphony no. 5 in E Minor (1888), the fantasy overture Hamlet (1885);
and numerous songs. Meanwhile, in 1877, Tchaikovsky had married Antonina
Milyukova, a music student at the Moscow Conservatory who had written to the
composer declaring her love for him. The marriage was unhappy from the outset,
and the couple soon separated. From 1887 to 1891 Tchaikovsky made several
highly successful concert tours, conducting his own works before large,
enthusiastic audiences in the major cities of Europe and the United States. He
composed one of his finest operas, The Queen of Spades, in 1890. Early in 1893
the composer began work on his Symphony no. 6 in B Minor, subsequently titled
Pathétique by his brother Modeste. The first performance of the work, given at
St. Petersburg on October 28, 1893, under the composer's direction, was
indifferently received. Tchaikovsky died nine days later.
III EVALUATION
Many Tchaikovsky
compositions-among them The Nutcracker (ballet and suite, 1891-1892), the Piano
Concerto no. 2 in G Major (1880), the String Quartet no. 3 in E-flat Minor
(1876), and the Trio in A Minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1882)-have
remained popular with concertgoers. His most popular works are characterized by
richly melodic passages in which sections suggestive of profound melancholy
frequently alternate with dancelike movements derived from folk music. Like his
contemporary, Russian composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky was an
exceptionally gifted orchestrator; his ballet scores in particular contain many
striking effects of orchestral coloration. His symphonic works, popular for
their melodic content, are also strong (and often unappreciated) in their
abstract thematic development. In his best operas, such as Eugene Onegin and
The Queen of Spades, he used highly suggestive melodic passages to depict a
dramatic situation concisely and with poignant effect. His ballets, notably
Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, have never been surpassed for their melodic
intensity and instrumental brilliance. Composed in close collaboration with
choreographer Marius Petipa, they represent virtually the first use of serious
dramatic music for the dance since the operatic ballet of German composer
Christoph Willibald Gluck. Tchaikovsky also extended the range of the symphonic
poem, and his works in this genre, including Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, are
notable for their richly melodic evocation of the moods of the literary works
on which they are based.
This page was received
from David Deakin, who made it for his 4th period history class. Thank
you so much, David !!!
