Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer, the foremost of the 19th century, was born in Votkinsk, in the western Ural area of the country in the year 1840. Even as a boy, Peter Tchaikovsky was said to be emotional, intense, and complex. From his earliest years, Peter’s emotions spanned the gamut from extremely happy to intensely depressed. History recalls that Peter Tchaikovsky was a headstrong, impetuous youth. The complex boy became a complex man.
Brilliantly intellectual, Tchaikovsky at first opted to study law. However, well into his law studies, Tchaikovsky determined that the profession was an ill suited choice for someone of his emotional temperament. Fortunately, Peter Tchaikovsky was also talented musically – gifted, in fact – and he was accepted into the Conservatory of St. Petersburg to study music. Tchaikovsky mastered the fundamentals of composition quickly and began writing original compositions within months of entering the conservatory. It was as if he were driven to write, so many hours did he dedicate to the task. But considering his temperament, it was characteristic of Tchaikovsky – the intensity and the perfectionism. In fact, Tchaikovsky was so intent that his music be his best that if he did not consider a piece perfect, he tore it up.
His teachers at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg included Russian composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein, from whom Tchaikovsky subsequently took advanced instructions 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 in 1868.
The Essay on Tchaikovsky Russian Composer
Many people today insist that the late 1800's and the nineteenth century music is currently dead, but is it really? Peter Tchaikovsky was an inspirational composer that kept his music alive as a publication. As a random person, I witness hearing many pieces of Tchaikovksy's work whether it's in band or other classes. His music was from way back in the historical period during all those wars. It ...
In 1876, a wealthy widow named Nadejda von Meck heard the music written by the young Tchaikovsky. She was so impressed by it that she offered to financially underwrite his composition efforts. Her only stipulation was that they correspond only in writing and that they never meet in person. Tchaikovsky consented, though the stipulation was odd. And despite the boundary the widow von Meck had set, the friendship flourished. For fourteen years, Tchaikovsky poured out his heart in his letters to the widow, telling her his hopes, frustrations, impressions, and even disappointments. And for fourteen years, her financial assistance allowed Tchaikovsky the freedom to compose. With time, however, Tchaikovsky became a brilliant success and he no longer needed his benefactress’s assistance. He never regretted the friendship, though odd in nature, as it had provided him with a source of refreshment and sound advice. The widow von Meck had encouraged him to take the setbacks and successes of his life and use them to produce majestic music in triumph and haunting melodies in the sad times. Successful both in composition and controlling his emotions, Tchaikovsky had at last become a happy man.
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 1887-1891 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.
Music came first with Tchaikovsky, not only in life, but in death. Engrossed in composition, Tchaikovsky drank water that he had not boiled, a very dangerous thing in those days in Russia. He died of cholera that he contracted as a result of the unclean water on November 6, 1893. Legend tells us that the piece he was writing remained unfinished.
The Essay on Music Role of a Composer
A person who creates the music the music we listen to by writing a piece of music for theatre, radio, film, TV and computer games where music is needed is known as composer. Composing of music has played a vital role in the lives of composers making others to be considered as princes of music like Josquin and Palestrina yet others had unique styles of composing their music. The roles of a composer ...
