Tchaikovsky, Pytor Ilyich

Website: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5648/Tchaikovsky.htm

7 May 1840 - 6 November 1893 Peter (Pytor) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Russia. He was the second of six children - five brothers and a sister, and devoted to his family and country. Like many composers before him (such as Handel and Schumann) Tchaikovsky studied law, but had no real interest in the practice. He frequently attended the Italian operas played in St. Petersburg. By the time he was 21 he was firmly ensconced in music. It is said that when he was asked by his composition teacher to bring in variations on a theme, he stayed up all night and returned the next day with 200! Though few realize it, one of Tchaikovsky's greatest-known compositions, the Nutcracker Ballet, was a failure from the start for him. It is said that the first performance was a disaster, and that he did not even like the music. Tchaikovsky died in 1893 of cholera.

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