Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, on May 7, 1840.
Serious music study began comparatively late, since he prepared for a
career in law and then for three years served as clerk in the Ministry
of Justice. He had, however, revealed unusual sensitivity for music from
earliest childhood, and had received some training on the piano from the
time he was five. Intensive music study, however, did not begin until
1861 when he became a pupil of Nicholas Zaremba, and it was completed at
the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His professional career began in 1865,
the year in which he was appointed professor of harmony at the newly
founded Moscow Conservatory. This was also the year when one of his
compositions was performed for the first time: _Characteristic Dances_,
for orchestra, introduced by Johann Strauss II in Pavlovsk, Russia.
Tchaikovsky’s first symphony was introduced in Moscow in 1868; his first
opera, _The Voivoda_, in Moscow in 1869; and his first masterwork—the
orchestral fantasy _Romeo and Juliet_—in Moscow in 1870. During the next
half dozen years he reached maturity as composer with the completion of
his second and third symphonies, first two string quartets, famous Piano
Concerto No. 1, and the orchestral fantasy, _Francesca da Rimini_.
In 1877, Tchaikovsky embarked precipitously on a disastrous marriage
with Antonina Miliukova. He did not love her, but was flattered by her
adoration of his music. In all probability he regarded this marriage as
a convenient cloak with which to conceal his sexual aberration which was
already causing some talk in Moscow and of which he was heartily
ashamed. In any event, this marriage proved a nightmare from the
beginning. Always hypersensitive, he now became a victim of mental
torment which led him to try suicide. Failing that, he fled from his
wife to find refuge in his brother’s house where he collapsed
physically. For a year after that he traveled about aimlessly in Europe.
This strange relationship with his wife was followed by another one,
even more curious and unorthodox, with the woman whom he admired and
loved above all others. She was the wealthy patroness and widow,
Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he maintained a friendship lasting thirteen
years. But during all that time he never once met her personally, their
friendship being developed through an exchange of often tender at times
even passionate letters. She had written him to speak of her admiration
for his music and he had replied in gratitude. Before long, she endowed
him with a generous annual subsidy to allow him full freedom to write
music. From then on, they wrote each other frequently, with Tchaikovsky
often baring his heart and soul. The reason why they never met was that
Mme. von Meck had firmly established that condition for the continuation
of their friendship and her financial generosity. Why this strange
request was made, and why she adhered to it so tenaciously, has never
been adequately explained. She may have been influenced by their
different stations in life, or by her excessive devotion to her
children, or even by a knowledge of the composer’s sexual deviation.
Now financially independent—and strengthened by the kindness, affection
and sympathy of his patroness—Tchaikovsky entered upon one of his
richest creative periods by producing one masterwork after another: the
fourth and fifth symphonies, the opera, _Eugene Onegin_; the violin
concerto; the _Capriccio italien_, for orchestra; a library of wonderful
songs. Inevitably he now assumed a rank of first importance in Russian
music. In 1884 he was honored by the Czar with the Order of St.
Vladimir, and in 1888 a life pension was conferred upon him by the
Russian government.
In 1890, while traveling in the Caucasus, Tchaikovsky heard from Mme.
von Meck that she had recently suffered financial reverses and was
compelled to terminate her subsidy. The composer replied that he was no
longer in need of her financial help but that he hoped their friendship
might continue. To this, and to all subsequent letters by Tchaikovsky,
Mme. von Meck remained silent. Upon returning to Moscow, Tchaikovsky
discovered that his patroness was in no financial difficulties
whatsoever, but had used this as an excuse to terminate a relationship
of which she had grown weary. The loss of his dearest friend, and the
specious reason given for the termination of their relationship, was an
overwhelming blow, one largely responsible for the fits of melancholia
into which Tchaikovsky lapsed so frequently from this time on.
In 1891, Tchaikovsky paid his only visit to the United States where he
helped open Carnegie Hall in New York by directing a performance of his
own _Overture 1812_. After returning to Russia, he became so morbid, and
succumbed so helplessly to fits of despair, that at times he thought he
was losing his mind. In such a mood he wrote his last symphony, the
_Pathétique_, one of the most tragic utterances in all music; there is
good reason to believe that when Tchaikovsky wrote this music he was
creating his own requiem. He died in St. Petersburg on November 6, 1893,
a victim of cholera contracted when he drank a glass of boiled water
during an epidemic.
The qualities in his major serious works that made Tchaikovsky one of
the best loved and most frequently performed composers in the world are
also the traits that bring his lesser works into the permanent
semi-classical repertory: an endless fund of beautiful melody; an
affecting sentiment that at times lapses into sentimentality; a lack of
inhibitions in voicing his deepest emotions and most personal thoughts.
The _Andante Cantabile_ is a gentle, melancholy song in three-part form
which comes from one of the composer’s string quartets, in D major, op.
11 (1871). This is the second movement of the quartet, and the reason
why this work as a whole is still occasionally performed. This famous
melody, however, is not original with the composer, but a quotation of a
Russian folk song, “Vanya Sat on the Divan,” which the composer heard a
baker sing in Kamenka, Russia. Tchaikovsky himself adapted this music
for orchestra. In 1941, this melody was adapted into the American
popular song, “On the Isle of May.”
_Chanson Triste_ is another of the composer’s soft, gentle melodies that
is filled with sentiment. This is the second of twelve children’s pieces
for the piano “of moderate difficulty,” op. 40 (1876-1877).
_Humoresque_, op. 10, no. 2 (1871)—a “humoresque” being an instrumental
composition in a whimsical vein—finds Tchaikovsky in a less familiar
attitude, that of grotesquerie. This sprightly little tune is almost as
celebrated as the very popular _Humoresque_ of Dvořák; and like that of
Dvořák, it originated as a composition for the piano, a companion to a
_Nocturne_ which it follows. Fritz Kreisler made a fine transcription
for violin and piano, while Stokowski was one of several to adapt it for
orchestra.
The _Marche Slav_, for orchestra, op. 31 (1876) was intended for a
benefit concert in St. Petersburg for Serbian soldiers wounded in the
war with Turkey. At that performance, the work aroused a “whole storm of
patriotic enthusiasm,” as the composer himself reported. The work opens
with a broad Slavic march melody which Tchaikovsky borrowed from a
Serbian folk song. The middle trio section is made up of two other folk
tunes. The composition ends with a triumphant restatement of the opening
march melody, now speaking for the victory of the Serbs over the Turks.
The _Melodie_, in E-flat major, op. 42, no. 3 (1878) is a simple and
haunting little song that originated as a piece for violin and piano. It
appears in a set of three such pieces entitled _Souvenir d’un lieu
cher_, of which it is the closing number. This melody was used in 1941
for the American popular song, “The Things I Love.”
_The Months_, op. 37b (1876) is a suite for piano out of which come
several compositions exceedingly popular in transcriptions. Each
movement of this suite is devoted to a month of the year. The sixth
movement is _June_, a little barcarolle, or Venetian boat song. The
tenth, for October, is _Autumn Song_, a gentle melody lightly touched by
sadness. The eleventh, for November, is by contrast a lively piece
entitled _Troika en Traneaux_, or _The Troika_.
“None But the Lonely Heart” is one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous songs, a
melancholy setting of Goethe’s poem. This is the last of a set of six
songs, op. 16 (1872) which is extensively performed in transcriptions of
all sorts.
The _Nutcracker Suite_, or _Casse-Noisette_, op. 71a (1892) is a suite
for orchestra adapted from a ballet score. The ballet (introduced in St.
Petersburg in 1892) tells about a nutcracker, received as a Christmas
gift by a little girl, which in her dreams becomes a handsome prince. He
leads toys into battle against mice, and conducts the little girl to Jam
Mountain, Arabia, where she is delighted with all kinds of games and
dances. Those accustomed to associate the name of Tchaikovsky with
lugubrious music will find this suite a revelation, for it is filled
with the most enchanting moods, and is consistently light of heart and
spirit. The highly popular suite for orchestra is made up of eight
little movements. “Miniature Overture” is built from two lively tunes.
The main subject of the “March” is a pert melody for clarinet, horn, and
two trumpets; the trio section consists of a vivacious staccato melody
for the woodwind and strings. “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” is a
sensitive melody for the celesta, the “Trepak” is a vigorous, rhythmic
Russian dance, the “Arabian Dance” is an exotic melody for the clarinet,
and the “Chinese Dance” an Oriental subject for flute and piccolo. The
two last movements are the “Dance of the Flutes” in which a sensitive
melody for flutes is contrasted by a more robust section for trumpets,
and the “Waltz of the Flowers,” where the waltz tune in horns and then
in clarinets is followed by two more important ideas, the first in the
strings, and the second in flutes and oboe.
The _Overture 1812_ is a concert overture for orchestra, op. 49 (1880)
commissioned for the consecration of a temple built as a memorial to
Napoleon’s defeat in Russia in 1812. This overture was intended by the
composer to describe the historic events of Napoleon’s invasion of and
flight from Russia. An introductory section quotes the well-known
Russian hymn, “God Preserve Thy People.” In the main body of the
overture, the Battle of Borodino is dramatically depicted, the two
opposing armies represented by quotations from the _Marseillaise_ and
the Russian national anthem. A climax is reached with a triumphant
restatement of the Russian national anthem.
The _Polonaise_ is one of two celebrated dance episodes in the opera
_Eugene Onegin_. (The other is the Waltz discussed below.) This
three-act opera is based on a poem by Pushkin, adapted by Konstantin
Shilovsky and the composer himself, and was introduced in Moscow on
March 29, 1879. The setting is St. Petersburg in or about 1815, and its
central theme concerns the frustrated love affair of Eugene Onegin and
Tatiana. The brilliant music of the Polonaise is heard in the first
scene of Act 3. In the palace of Prince Gremin there takes place a
reception during which the guests dance to the vital strains of this
courtly Polish dance, its vigor derived from sharp syncopations and
accents on the half beat.
_Romance_, in F minor, op. 5 (1868) is a composition for piano written
by the composer when he believed himself in love with the singer,
Désirée Artôt, to whom the piece is dedicated. This music gives voice to
a romantic ardor.
The _Sérénade mélancolique_ in B-flat minor, op. 26 (1875) is a work for
violin and orchestra. As the title indicates it is a sentimental rather
than romantic effusion. Here a brief subject leads to a soaring
three-part song for the violin.
_Serenade for Strings_, in C major, op. 48 (1880) is particularly famous
for its second and third movements. The second is a Waltz, perhaps the
most popular of this composer’s many well loved waltzes. This is a
graceful, even elegant, dance movement, the waltz of the Parisian salon
rather than the more vital and earthy dance of Vienna. Such a
light-hearted mood is instantly dispelled by the gloom of the third
movement, an eloquent _Elegy_, in which the sorrow is all the more
poignant because it is so subdued and restrained.
Solitude, op. 73, no. 6 (1893)—sometimes known as Again as Before—is a
song set to a poem by D. M. Rathaus. This is the last of a set of six
songs. Stokowski made an effective arrangement for orchestra.
_Song Without Words_ (_Chanson sans paroles_), in F major is the third
of a set of three pieces for the piano collectively entitled _Souvenir
de Hapsal_, op. 2 (1867). This tender melody is far more familiar in
transcriptions than it is in its original version.
Tchaikovsky wrote three Suites for orchestra. From two of these come
movements which must be counted with the composer’s most popular works.
The Suite No. 1 in D minor, op. 43 (1880) is famous for its fourth
movement, a _Marche Miniature_. The inclusion of this section into the
suite was something of an afterthought with the composer, since it was
interpolated into the work only after it had been published, placed as a
fourth movement between an intermezzo and a scherzo. This march is in
the grotesque, fantastic style of the piano _Humoresque_. The main
subject is heard in the piccolo against plucked-string accompaniment. A
transitory episode in strings and bells leads to a development of this
melody.
The third movement from this same suite, _Intermezzo_, has two main
melodies: the first appears in first violins, violas, bassoons and
flute; the second, in cellos and bassoon. The coda is based on the first
theme.
The suite No. 3 in G major, op. 55 (1884) is a four-movement work of
which the second is particularly celebrated. This is a _Valse
mélancolique_ for full orchestra, highly expressive and emotional music
in the composer’s identifiable sentimental style.
There are several other waltzes by Tchaikovsky familiar to all lovers of
light music. The _Valse sentimentale_, op. 51, no. 6 comes from a set of
six pieces for the piano (1882) where it is the final number. The opera
_Eugene Onegin_ (commented upon above for its Polonaise) is also the
source of a remarkable waltz episode. This music, the essence of
aristocratic style and elegance, appears in the first scene of the
second act. Tatiana’s birthday is celebrated with a festive party during
which the guests dance to its infectious strains. Two other famous
Tchaikovsky waltzes come from his famous ballets—_Sleeping Beauty_ and
_Swan Lake_. In the orchestral suite derived from the score of _Sleeping
Beauty_, the waltz appears as the fourth and concluding movement and
consists of a lilting melody for strings which is carried to an
overpowering climax. The _Swan Lake_ consists of thirty-three numbers,
various combinations of its most popular sections serving as orchestral
suites for concert performance. The suave waltz music serves in the
ballet for a dance of the swans at the lakeside in the second act.