On November 5, 1893, at age 53 and just eight days after premiere of his Sixth Symphony – the Pathetique-Tchaikovsky was diagnosed with (See Tchaikovsky in America.) Death and Legacy This phobia lasted for years, however in his later career, he finally overcame it and successfully completed a tour in the US, where he conducted the inaugural concert at Carnegie Hall in 1891. He suffered from debilitating stage-fright and neuroses-like his fear that his head was going to fall off while conducting, which led to him awkwardly holding his chin with one hand and conducting with the other.
Tchaikovsky drank, smoked and gambled too much and was easily reduced to tears. His marriage to his student Antonina Miliukova-whom he hoped might “cure” him of his homosexuality-was a sham and the two permanently separated after ten excruciating weeks for the composer. As a gay man living in 19th century Imperial Russia, he also experienced extreme self-loathing and constant fear of being outed over his sexuality. Tchaikovsky was prone to immense angst, self-doubt and bouts of depression. And you are quite right.”-Tchaikovsky, in a letter to Von Meck. You are afraid that you will not find in me those ideal qualities that your imagination has attributed to me. Von Meck stipulated that she never wanted to meet as a condition of her patronage, and the socially awkward Tchaikovsky was more than happy to comply. While the composer and his patron exchanged more than 1,200 deeply personal letters in the course of 13 years (that’s nearly two a week), they met only once-accidentally and awkwardly-and they never spoke a word to each other.
#Tchia tchia professional#
The generous annual stipend of 6000 roubles she gave him – about 20x what he would have made as a civil servant – enabled him to quit his job with the Conservatory and become Russia’s first full-time, professional composer.
Tchaikovsky’s fortunes changed in 1877 when he gained the emotional and financial support of wealthy patron Nadezhda Von Meck. For most of his life, this was a source of torment to the sensitive composer. Tchaikovsky straddled both worlds and yet he struggled for acceptance and approval with either: To Western ears, his music lacked structure and discipline to Russians, it was unpatriotic pandering to foreign tastes. Tchaikovsky took his Conservatory training and layered on elements of the Russian music he had grown up with to develop his own style. He went on to teach at the institution.Īt that time, Western European and native Russian music were very different from each other and the merits of each were fiercely debated against a background of surging national identity and pride. Petersburg Conservatory, where he received formal training in Western European music and compositional techniques. Three years later, despite the risks, he quit his ministry job and was among the first students to attend St. Tchaikovsky continued to pursue his interest in music by attending lectures at the newly founded Russian Musical Society, whose goal was to promote native Russian music talent. At 19, he completed his studies, joined the Ministry of Justice, and embarked on a career which would confer status and a steady income. In an era when musicians were looked down on and considered in the same social class as peasants in Russia, the idea of a career in music was not an option, and so Tchaikovsky was sent away to boarding school to train for a respectable position in the Russian civil service. If Tchaikovsky felt it, it found a way into his music.”-Prof Robert Greenberg Growing Up Tchaikovskyīorn in Kamsko-Votkinsk in Russia, Tchaikovsky was a deeply sensitive and emotional child who exceled in foreign languages and music from an early age. He was also a deeply tormented and sensitive soul. The first Russian to achieve international renown as a composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is also often considered the most Romantic of composers.
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