Tchaikovsky
Subtitle: The Quest for the Inner Man
By: Alexander Poznansky.
Publisher: Schirmer Books; Maxwell Macmillan Canada; Maxwell Macmillan International; Schirmer Trade Books
Published: 1991
Place of publication: New York; Toronto; New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 679
ISBN-13: 9780028718859
Subjects: Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893; Composers -- Russia -- Biography
Description: This monumental 656-page biography is probably the fullest, most revealing account to date of Tchaikovsky's private life. Poznansky identifies the death of the composer's mother as a shattering experience for young Pyotr Ilyich, a source of deep existential melancholy. His hypersensitivity, forged by a child's feeling of paradise lost, would manifest in neurosis, insomnia and depressive fits marked by "a sense of insurmountable terror." A Yale University librarian, Poznansky explores the composer's obsessive fear of death, his idealized relationship with eccentric, free-thinking patron Nadezhda von Meck, the fiasco of his brief, unconsummated marriage, and his involvement in a homosexual subculture that simultaneously fascinated and repelled him. Drawing on Russian sources, the author refutes the theory that Tchaikovsky's death in 1893 at age 53 was a suicide forced upon him by a conspiracy of former classmates. "The story of a soul finding itself," this remarkable book casts only an indirect light on the relationship between Tchaikovsky's life and art, as the author omits extended discussion of the music. Photos.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: List of Illustrations
pagenum: vii; title: Preface
pagenum: xi; title: Map: Russia and Europe During Tchaikovsky's Lifetime
pagenum: xx; title: Genealogy: The Family of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
pagenum: xxi; label: Part One:
title: Preparation (1840—1865)
pagenum: 1; label: 1.
title: Early Anguish
pagenum: 3; label: 2.
title: In the School of Jurisprudence
pagenum: 18; label: 3.
title: Special Friendships
pagenum: 31; label: 4.
title: Man About Town
pagenum: 50; label: 5.
title: His Brothers' Keeper
pagenum: 68; label: Part Two:
title: Creation (1866—1876)
pagenum: 83; label: 6.
title: The Lovable Misanthrope
pagenum: 85; label: 7.
title: Desires and Flames
pagenum: 108; label: 8.
title: The Petrofina Letters
pagenum: 131; label: 9.
title: Becoming the Composer
pagenum: 151; label: 10.
title: Tensions, Temptations, Melancholy
pagenum: 171; label: Part Three:
title: Encounter with Fate (1877—1878)
pagenum: 193; label: 11.
title: Two Women
pagenum: 195; label: 12.
title: Marriage
pagenum: 215; label: 13.
title: Escape Abroad
pagenum: 231; label: 14.
title: Consequences
pagenum: 250; label: Part Four:
title: Double Fugitive (1878—1879)
pagenum: 273; label: 15.
title: Elective Affinities
pagenum: 275; label: 16.
title: Freedom to Create
pagenum: 292; label: 17.
title: Invisibility Presumed
pagenum: 313; label: 18.
title: Fireworks at Simaki
pagenum: 335; label: Part Five:
title: Transient Lodgings (1879—1888)
pagenum: 355; label: 19.
title: Patrons, Friends, and Protégés
pagenum: 357; label: 20.
title: Domestic Upheaval
pagenum: 379; label: 21.
title: Tanya
pagenum: 403; label: 22.
title: X and Z at Kamenka
pagenum: 425; label: 23.
title: Drama in Tiflis
pagenum: 447; label: 24.
title: Gentlemanly Games
pagenum: 463; label: Part Six:
title: Fame (1888—1893)
pagenum: 487; label: 25.
title: A Second Wind
pagenum: 489; label: 26.
title: Mrs. von Meck's Last Letter
pagenum: 511; label: 27.
title: The "Fourth Suite"
pagenum: 530; label: 28.
title: "Let Them Guess"
pagenum: 552; label: 29.
title: The Fortuitous Tragedy
pagenum: 573; label: 30.
title: Death in St. Petersburg
pagenum: 590; title: Epilogue
pagenum: 609; title: Notes
pagenum: 615; title: Index
pagenum: 657