Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Ptior Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) is amongst the most popular of composers thanks to his popular symphonies, short orchestral works and ballets. It constitute a substantial body of work which places Tchaikovsky close, if not at the top, of the league of Russian composers due to his unrivaled melodic skills.

By nature, Tchaikovsky was highly strung and prone to making rash decisions – his disastrous marriage to Antonina Miliukova in 1877 being one of them. This caused the composer to have a nervous breakdown and attempt suicide. Luckily his muse was sustained by his long-term patron Nadezhda von Meck, whom he only met once (by accident). Tchaikovsky died from cholera after drinking infected water shortly after his greatest symphony, the Pathetique was premiered. There are suggestions he was forced to commit suicide although this is still debatable.

Key Works: 1812 Overture,Capriccio Italien, Francesca da Rimini, Marche Slave, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Serenade for Strings, Souvenir de Florence, Symphonies Nos. 4 - 6 'Pathetique', Manfred Symphony, Piano Trio, None but the lonely heart, Eugene Onegin, Pique Dame (Queen of Spades), The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake

Key Artists: Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, Julia Fischer, Herbert von Karajan, Yvgeny Mravinsky, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mikhail Pletnev, Svitoslav Richter

Influenced by: Balakirev, Glinka, Mozart, Verdi
Influenced: Arensky, Glazunov, Gliere, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Taneyev