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Tchaikovsky 1840 - 1893 (53)

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840- 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Udmurtia, to a high-class family. His father was a civil servant, director of mines and lieutenant colonel, his mother was of French descent; he grew up with French nannies and from the age of 5 he started piano lessons. In 1848 the family moved to Moscow and then to St. Petersburg due to the relocation of his father. In 1850 he was locked up for 2 years in a private school and then studied at the law school of St. Petersburg. In 1854 he suffered a severe shock as his mother died suddenly of cholera. In 1859 he finished law school and was appointed to the Ministry of Justice. He remained in this position for 4 years until he resigned, despite the objections of his family; he was determined to pursue a career in music. He started giving music lessons and at the same time attending the Conservatory of the city. In 1863 he moved to Moscow, in 1866 he became known for his first symphony and became a professor at the city museum.

Tchaikovsky, according to all his biographers, struggled to keep his homosexuality a secret - it was illegal at that time - and for this reason he was forced to marry in 1877 a young music student. The marriage turned out to be a disaster. They divorced after 3 months, she ended up in a psychiatric hospital, he suffered a severe nervous breakdown and tried to kill himself. In 1878 he resigned from the conservatory, perhaps because of rumors that wanted him to have an inappropriate relationship with a student. A wealthy widow began correspondence with him and without ever meeting him, she offered him a generous monthly income in order to live and compose seamlessly. With this money, Tchaikovsky lived richly the rest of his years composing music and touring Europe. He once arrived in America where he was enthusiastically received by the music-loving public. He died in St. Petersburg on November 6, 1893, at the age of 53, with the official cause of death being the cholera. Several biographers believe that he committed suicide because he was afraid of being deported while a sex scandal involving him was being tried at the time. Anyway, Tchaikovsky left us some of the most popular orchestral and theatrical musical works, such as the ballets: "The Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker", the Piano Concertos, the opera "Eugene Onegin" and much more.