Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893

### Introduction:

Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia. He is known as the most popular Russian composer of all time. His family had a long line of military service, with his father serving as a lieutenant colonel, as well as, an engineer in the Department of Mines. His grandfather was a physician in the army, and his great- grandfather was known as Peter the Great. His mother was trained in the arts, including music. She used to perform in private social gatherings in the remote parts of Russia, bringing entertainment to the citizens' lives.

Tchaikovsky is one of six and his sister Alexandra was the closest to him. In his later life, her family would be the only family life Tchaikovsky would know. Their family hired Fanny Durbach, a governess, to teach the children how to read, and other things of that nature. Pyotr was only four and half years old, and his family thought he was too young to learn alongside his older brother, but his insistence changed Durbach's mind. He became attached to Fanny, because her loving embrace was there, when his mother was cold hearted and never there for him. Fanny saved many of his work from this time of his life, and among his work include early compositions he made. He began piano lessons at the age of five. Within three years of practicing piano, he became as good as his teacher with reading sheet music. His parents were originally supportive of his musical endeavors, but by 1850, they sent him to Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg. This would prepare him for a life as a civil servant. There were not many jobs that he could get as a musician, due to the economy of Russia. The two jobs he could do was teaching music or an instrumentalist in one of the imperial theatres, and both were considered low class societal jobs. His parents money was becoming lower and lower, and Tchaikovsky needed to be own his own as fast as he could. At this point in his life he was ten years old, and children could not earn minimum wage until the age of twelve. This left him at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence for the remaining two years. After these two years, he continued his studies here in a seven year program.

Due to Tchaikovsky being separated from his mother at a young age, he suffered from emotional trauma that intensified when his mother died in 1854, when he was only fourteen. Her death took a toll on him, and it led him to sit down and write his first serious composition, which was a waltz in her memory. His father sent him back to school, in order to get the death off his mind. His school was 800 miles away, and left him totally isolated from his family. He made lifelong friendships at the Institute including, Aleksey Apukhtin and Vladimir Gerard. The three of them all shared an interest in music, and they would attend the opera together. Tchaikovsky was able to continue his piano studies with Franz Becker, but later would pursue private lessons with Rudolph Kundinger. Kundinger said that he saw no musical future for the boy both in performing and in composing. His advice to Tchaikovsky was to finish his schooling and then try for a position in the Ministry of Justice.

At nineteen years old, Tchaikovsky graduated, and became a senior assistant in the Ministry of Justice, after only eight months of training. He remained in this position for the next three years, he committed to the civil service career. While this was happening, the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna founded the Russian Musical Society (RMS). The reason for creating this, was to fulfill Tsar Alexander II's wish of fostering native talent. There were regular performances and seasons in the Imperial Theatres. Tchaikovsky attended classes that the RMS held in music theory. These classes would soon form the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, and Tchaikovsky enrolled as part of its premiere class. These classes turned him into a professional musician able to thrive as a composer, and the classes gave him a taste of Western music and Russian music.

Upon his graduation, his teachers' brother offered him a position as Professor of Music at Moscow Conservatory, which he graciously accepted. He was also excited to find out that his first piece was to be performed publicly. He would combine his teaching and his composition together, and do both happily. His job allowed him to travel abroad and experience new music and opportunities. His reputation grew, and his popularity as well. People loved his music for the honesty and joy it brought them.

In October of 1893, Tchaikovsky conducted his Sixth Symphony in Saint Petersburg, but nine days later he died at the age of 53. Researches believed he died of cholera like his mother, but others say he killed himself.

### Pieces We Heard

1. The Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeDF2tvKClg

1. op 39. Children's Album: Song of the Lark, Snowdrop, White Nights, The Harvest, Mammy, Doll's Funeral, Waltz, The peasant is Playing Accordion.

### Observations of Pieces:

1. These variations were all very beautiful. The band was made up of two violins, one viola, and two cellists. The lead cellist was the clear leader of this song, with the most solos. He did not use music which was very interesting. The variations all had very differentiating characteristics, but there was a clear central theme, which I found very interesting. There was no conductor, which I had never seen before, and it was interesting to watch the band communicate with each other. They kept clear eye contact with their music, but looked up when they needed to cue each other. The musicians are very clearly into the music they are playing, which is easily noticeable by the way their bodies get into the music. The music has a very happy feel to it, and begins to get more intense towards the middle of the variation. When a different variation starts, there is a whole new tone to the piece, making it easy to identify the changes. The music sounds Romantic, and I later found out that Tchaikovsky wrote during the Romantic period. The tempo changes to a faster and slower speed, depending on the mood Tchaikovsky is trying to get across to his listeners. While listening to the piece, I felt the happiness the music was portraying, but I also thought about the different emotions we feel in a day. Maybe the piece was trying to get that across, and now, knowing Tchaikovsky's history with depression, it may be a possibility. The variations go from peaceful to exciting within a second, keeping the audience engaged. The end of the piece even had a large dramatic ending, which left the long piece rememberable.

## Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74. "Pathetique" (Casey Adams)

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor “Pathétique” was written in 1893. This piece was performed on June 2nd, 2017 at the Alba Music Festival. The piece was performed by the Orchestra Filarmonica di Stato della Romania and directed by Claude Villaret. They performed the piece which was about 45 minutes long and consisting of 4 different movements; *Adagio- Allegro non troppo, Allegro con grazia. Allegro molto vivace, Adagio lamentoso- Andante.* The piece begins with a somber sounding intro which then speeds up and leads you into a section that sounds almost like a call and response between the flute and horn section. Next, there is a tension build up to lead you into a much more soothing and laid back sounding section of the piece. The *Allegro con grazia* movement has a much lighter mood towards the start of the movement but then switches to a very dramatic section mostly featuring strings and the horn section. The *Allegro molto vivance* movement is a quirky sounding call and response movement with powerful build up towards the middle of the movement then returning to the quirky melody. The last movement, marked *Adagio lamentoso,* is very full sounding with strings and returns to the somber theme that the piece started with. Overall, although consisting of about 45 minutes, this piece was one of my favorites that we heard. It took the audience on an emotional journey with such contrasting movements and techniques.

### Works Cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr\_Ilyich\_Tchaikovsky

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pyotr-Ilyich-Tchaikovsky

http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/tchaikovsky.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeDF2tvKClg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony\_No.\_6\_(Tchaikovsky)