Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893) was a Russian Romantic composer whose works span ballet, symphony, concerto, opera and chamber music. Born in Votkinsk, then part of the Russian Empire, he trained at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and later taught at the Moscow Conservatory. He achieved international fame for a body of orchestral and concert works marked by expressive melodies, rich orchestration, and elegant formal craft.

Notable works include the ballets Swan Lake (1875–76; premiered 1877), The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and The Nutcracker (1892); symphonies such as Nos. 4, 5 and 6 (Pathétique); concertos including Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor and Violin Concerto in D major; and the tone poems Romeo and Juliet, Francesca da Rimini, and the 1812 Overture. His operas Eugene Onegin (1879) and The Queen of Spades (1890) expanded Russian stage music. His style bridged Western European Romantic traditions and Russian national idioms, with memorable tunes and sophisticated orchestration.

Tchaikovsky was closely associated with Nadezhda von Meck, a patron who funded him for many years through a renowned correspondence he never met in person. In 1877 he briefly married Antonina Miliukova; the marriage was dissolved soon after. He died in Saint Petersburg at the age of 53; the cause is commonly given as cholera, though some aspects remain debated. His influence endures in ballet and concert repertoire.