Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

"Tchaikovsky" redirects here. For other uses, see Tchaikovsky (disambiguation).

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Ilyich and the family name is Tchaikovsky.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, c. 1888

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (English: /tʃaɪˈkɒfski/ chy-KOF-skee; Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, IPA: [pʲɵtr ɪlʲˈjitɕ tɕɪjˈkofskʲɪj] (listen); 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. He was honored in 1884 by Tsar Alexander III and awarded a lifetime pension.

Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a musical career in Russia at the time and no system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching that he received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of The Five with whom his professional relationship was mixed.

Tchaikovsky's training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From that reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style. The principles that governed melody, harmony and other fundamentals of Russian music ran completely counter to those that governed Western European music, which seemed to defeat the potential for using Russian music in large-scale Western composition or for forming a composite style, and it caused personal antipathies that dented Tchaikovsky's self-confidence. Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great. That resulted in uncertainty among the intelligentsia about the country's national identity, an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovsky's career.

Religious views

Tchaikovsky expresses his religious perspective in a letter to Nadezhda von Meck on 23 November/5 December 1877:

However, conviction is one thing, and instinct and feeling another. Whilst I deny an eternal afterlife, it is with indignation that I reject at the same time the monstrous thought that I shall never see again some loved ones who are now dead. In spite of the triumphant force of my convictions, I shall never reconcile myself to the thought that my mother, whom I so loved and who was such a wonderful person, has disappeared forever and that I will never be able to tell her that even after twenty-three years of separation I still love her the same

— Pyotr Tchaikovsky, http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/people/index.html

A letter to Mrs von Meck on 16/28 February–17 February/1 March 1879, in which he tells her of his impressions of reading the scene in The Brothers Karamazov where Father Zosima has to comfort a woman who has lost all her children, shows that this was a question which Tchaikovsky often thought about:

Yes, my friend! It is better to have to die oneself every day for a thousand years than to lose those whom one loves and to seek consolation in the hypothetical idea that we shall meet again in the other world! Will we meet again? Happy are those who manage not to have doubts about this

— Pyotr Tchaikovsky, http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/people/index.html

On the subject of Tchaikovsky’s views on religion, it is very instructive to turn to his special diary. On 22 February/6 March 1886, he noted there:

What an infinitely deep abyss between the Old and the New Testament! Am reading the Psalms of David and do not understand why, first, they are placed so high artistically and, second, in what way they could have anything in common with the Gospel. David is entirely worldly. The whole human race he divides into two unequal parts: in one, the godless (here belongs the vast majority), in the other, the godly and at their head he places himself. Upon the godless, he invokes in each psalm divine punishment, upon the godly, reward; but both punishment and reward are earthly. The sinners will be annihilated; the godly will reap the benefits of all the blessings of earthly life. How unlike Christ who prayed for his enemies and to his fellow man promised not earthly blessings but the Kingdom of Heaven. What eternal poetry and, touching to tears, what feeling of love and pity toward mankind in the words: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.” All the Psalms of David are nothing in comparison with these simple words.

— Pyotr Tchaikovsky

This contrast between the Old and New Testament and his admiration for the figure of Christ, and, in particular, for Christ’s exhortation: “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28) — the underlying idea of which he once tried to set into music — are themes he often returned to in those years. Another interesting diary entry is that which he made in Maydanovo on 21 September/3 October 1887, on the same day that his old friend Nikolay Kondratyev died after a long illness in Aachen (where Tchaikovsky had visited him that summer):

Yelena Dyachkova, Ph.D. in History of Arts and Assistant professor at the P.I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, wrote an interesting essay entitled “Tchaikovsky and the Bible”. Her thesis begins by stating:

Biblical mythology as a possible programme for a musical work never attracted Tchaikovsky's interest. Epistolary heritage also does not give the reason to suppose that the Bible was the composer's favourite book. Nevertheless, these superficially obvious facts do not settle the question about Tchaikovsky and the Bible. The Bible, together with ancient mythology, forms one of the basic conceptual paradigms of European culture. Its major semantic and psychological constants, such as the linear perception of time as a stream flowing from its source (the Creation) towards the end (the Judgement Day), the fear of Death, the responsibility for deeds (ethical principles), and finally, treating anguish and torments of the indi- vidual as a spiritual feat, are characteristics of practically all the works belonging to the European literature tradition. In particular, these constants may be perceived as peculiar cultural and artistic archetypes in Tchaikovsky's work.

— Yelena Dyachkova, Tchaikovsky and the Bible

It was in the decade 1877 and 1887 that Tchaikovsky created most of his spirtual works. This also happened to be a time in which his close friendship with Nikolaj Kondrat'ev and family was under some stress, and they did not visit each other very much. During this time Tchaikovsky thought about existential questions, up to creating his own creed. In 1877 the composer writes:

I have forgotten that there are plenty of people who managed to create for themselves an harmonic set of ideas that replaced religion for them. It remains for me only to envy those people. It seems to me that all my life I am doomed to doubt and to look for a way out of contradictions

— Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Pëtr Il'ic Cajkovskij, Perepiska s N. F. fon-Mekk, vol. 1, p. 111 (letter from Venice, December 5-17, 1877)

And in 1887 again the composer makes a record in his diary:

How strange it was for me to read that 365 days ago I was still afraid to acknowledge that, despite all the fervor of sympathetic feelings awakened by Christ, I dared to doubt His Divinity. Since then, my religion has become infinitely more clear; I have been thinking much about God, life and death all this time, and especially in Aachen the fatal questions - what for, how, why? - often occupied me and anxiously flashed before me. It is the religion of mine that I would like to word in detail some time, if only to clarify for myself once and forever my beliefs and that border where they arise after the speculation. However, life with its vanities flies by, and I don't know if I shall have time to express that Credo that has been worked out by me lately. It has been worked out very clearly, but nevertheless, I do not use it for my praying practice yet. I am praying still as before, as I was taught to pray. However, God hardly needs to know how and why people pray. God does not need prayer. But we need it

— Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Ironically, Kondrat'ev's words: "Pray, my friend, pray. God will help you to get out of this situation", that had offended Tchaikovsky so much in 1877, appeared to be prophetic.

— Yelena Dyachkova, Tchaikovsky and the Bible

It is possible that the Fifth Symphony grew out of some of these reflections, as suggested by Tchaikovsky’s notes on the initial sketches.

Though having many doubts about christianity, Tchaikovsky however liked and at times attended Orthodox liturgies. Yelena Dyachkova writes:

It gave him strong emotional experience. "My attitude to church completely differs from yours," Tchaikovsky wrote to Nadežda von Meck. "For me it still keeps plenty of poetic charm. I attend mass very often; in my opinion, the Liturgy of John Chrysostom is one of the greatest artistic works. Being attentive at our Orthodox service and going carefully into the sense of every ceremony, you are certainly touched by the spirit. I also love all night vigil. To go on Saturday to an old small church, to stand in twilight filled with incense smoke, to dip into yourself and to search inside yourself for the answer to eternal questions: what for, when, where to, why?, awaking from muse when the choir begins to sing "From my youth many passions possess me", and to give yourself up to the influence of the fascinating poetry of this psalm, to be filled with some quiet admiration, when holy doors open and it is heard "Praise God from Heaven!", - oh, I like all that enormously, it is one of my greatest delights!" In another letter the composer writes: "This week I have attended many church services and experienced great artistic delight. The Orthodox service acts upon the soul amazingly, if it is arranged, for example, like here in the Church of the Saviour!"

— Yelena Dyachkova, Tchaikovsky and the Bible

Music

See also: List of compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Symphonies by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Musical compositions by Tchaikovsky which were religiously inspired are:

The All-Night Vigil (Vesper Service), for unaccompanied chorus Op. 52 (1881-82)

1. Introductory Psalm: Bless My Soul, O Lord
2. Kathisma: Blessed is the Man
3. Lord, I Call to Thee
4. Gladsome Light
5. Rejoice, O Virgin
6. The Lord is God
7. Polyeleion: Praise the Name of the Lord
8. Troparia: Blessed Art Thou, Lord
9. Gradual Antiphon: From My Youth
10. Hymns after the Gospel Reading: Having Beheld the Resurrection of Christ
11. Common Katabasis: I Shall Open My Lips
12. Canticle of the Mother of God : Holy is the Lord Our God
13. Theotokion: Both Now and Forever
14. Great Doxology: Glory to God in the Highest
15. To Thee the Glorious Leader

The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

See Liturgy_of_St._John_Chrysostom_(Tchaikovsky).

Tchaikovsky, known primarily for his symphonies, concertos and ballets, was deeply interested in the music and liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1875, he compiled A Concise Textbook of Harmony Intended to Facilitate the Reading of Sacred Musical Works in Russia.

The Cherubikon is the usual Cherubic Hymn sung at the Great Entrance of the Byzantine liturgy. The hymn symbolically incorporates those present at the liturgy into the presence of the angels gathered around God's throne.

Legend

See Legend (Tchaikovsky).

Legend (Russian: Легенда, Legenda), Op. 54, No. 5 (also known as The Crown of Roses in some English-language sources)[1] is a composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Originally written in 1883 as a song for solo voice and piano, it was subsequently arranged by Tchaikovsky for solo voice and orchestra (1884), and then for unaccompanied choir (1889).[2] The words are based on the poem "Roses and Thorns" by American poet Richard Henry Stoddard, originally published in Graham's Magazine of May 1856.[2][3] :

The young child Jesus had a garden
Full of roses, rare and red;
And thrice a day he watered them,
To make a garland for his head!

When they were full-blown in the garden,
He led the Jewish children there,
And each did pluck himself a rose,
Until they stripped the garden bare!

"And now how will you make your garland?
For not a rose your path adorns:"
"But you forget," he answered them,
"That you have left me still the thorns.

They took the thorns, and made a garland,
And placed it on his shining head;
And where the roses should have shone,
Were little drops of blood instead!

— Roses and Thorns, Stoddard, R[ichard] H[enry] (May 1856). "Roses and Thorns". Graham's Magazine. Philadelphia. xlviii (5): 414.

Sources

• Asafyev, Boris (1947). "The Great Russian Composer". Russian Symphony: Thoughts About Tchaikovsky. New York: Philosophical Library.
• Benward, Bruce; Saker, Marilyn (200). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. 1 (Seventh ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
• Botstein, Leon (1998). "Music as the Language of Psychological Realm". In Kearney, Leslie (ed.). Tchaikovsky and His World. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00429-3.
• Brown, David, "Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich" and "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich". In The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (London: MacMillan, 1980), 20 vols., ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Early Years, 1840–1874 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1978). ISBN 0-393-07535-4.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Crisis Years, 1874–1878, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1983). ISBN 0-393-01707-9.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Years of Wandering, 1878–1885, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986). ISBN 0-393-02311-7.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885–1893, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991). ISBN 0-393-03099-7.
• Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music (New York: Pegasus Books, 2007). ISBN 0-571-23194-2.
• Cooper, Martin, "The Symphonies". In Music of Tchaikovsky (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1946), ed. Abraham, Gerald. ISBN n/a. OCLC 385829
• Druckenbrod, Andrew, "Festival to explore Tchaikovsky's changing reputation". In Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 30 January 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
• Figes, Orlando, Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2002). ISBN 0-8050-5783-8 (hc.).
• Holden, Anthony, Tchaikovsky: A Biography (New York: Random House, 1995). ISBN 0-679-42006-1.
• Holoman, D. Kern, "Instrumentation and orchestration, 4: 19th century". In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition (London: Macmillan, 2001), 29 vols., ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.
• Hopkins, G. W., "Orchestration, 4: 19th century". In The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (London: MacMillan, 1980), 20 vols., ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
• Hosking, Geoffrey, Russia and the Russians: A History (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2001). ISBN 0-674-00473-6.
• Jackson, Timothy L., Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 6 (Pathétique) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). ISBN 0-521-64676-6.
• Karlinsky, Simon, "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture: The Impact of the October Revolution". In Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past (New York: American Library, 1989), ed. Duberman, Martin, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.
• Kozinn, Allan, "Critic's Notebook; Defending Tchaikovsky, With Gravity and With Froth". In The New York Times, 18 July 1992. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
• Lockspeiser, Edward, "Tchaikovsky the Man". In Music of Tchaikovsky (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1946), ed. Abraham, Gerald. ISBN n/a. OCLC 385829
• Maes, Francis, tr. Arnold J. Pomerans and Erica Pomerans, A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2002). ISBN 0-520-21815-9.
• Mochulsky, Konstantin, tr. Minihan, Michael A., Dostoyevsky: His Life and Work (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967). LCCN 65-10833.
• Poznansky, Alexander, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man (New York: Schirmer Books, 1991). ISBN 0-02-871885-2.
• Poznansky, Alexander, Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes. (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1999). ISBN 0-253-33545-0.
• Ridenour, Robert C., Nationalism, Modernism and Personal Rivalry in Nineteenth-Century Russian Music (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981). ISBN 0-8357-1162-5.
• Ritzarev, Marina, Tchaikovsky's Pathétique and Russian Culture (Ashgate, 2014). ISBN 9781472424112.
• Roberts, David, "Modulation (i)". In The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (London: MacMillan, 1980), 20 vols., ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
• Rubinstein, Anton, tr. Aline Delano, Autobiography of Anton Rubinstein: 1829–1889 (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1890). Library of Congress Control Number LCCN 06-4844.
• Schonberg, Harold C. Lives of the Great Composers (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. 1997). ISBN 0-393-03857-2.
• Steinberg, Michael, The Concerto (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).
• Steinberg, Michael, The Symphony (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
• Taruskin, Richard, "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (London and New York: Macmillan, 1992), 4 vols, ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 0-333-48552-1.
• Volkov, Solomon, Romanov Riches: Russian Writers and Artists Under the Tsars (New York: Alfred A. Knopf House, 2011), tr. Bouis, Antonina W. ISBN 0-307-27063-7.
• Warrack, John, Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Concertos (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969). LCCN 78-105437.
• Warrack, John, Tchaikovsky (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973). ISBN 0-684-13558-2.
• Wiley, Roland John, "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich". In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition (London: Macmillan, 2001), 29 vols., ed. Sadie, Stanley. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.
• Wiley, Roland John, The Master Musicians: Tchaikovsky (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). ISBN 978-0-19-536892-5.
• Zhitomirsky, Daniel, "Symphonies". In Russian Symphony: Thoughts About Tchaikovsky (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947). ISBN n/a.
• Zajaczkowski, Henry, Tchaikovsky's Musical Style (Ann Arbor and London: UMI Research Press, 1987). ISBN 0-8357-1806-9.

Further reading

• Bergamini, John, The Tragic Dynasty: A History of the Romanovs (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969). LCCN 68-15498.
• Bullock, Philip Ross (2016). Pyotr Tchaikovsky. London, U.K.: Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781780236544. OCLC 932385370.
• Hanson, Lawrence and Hanson, Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky: The Man Behind the Music (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company). LCCN 66-13606.

External links

• Tchaikovsky Research
• "Discovering Tchaikovsky". BBC Radio 3.
• Tchaikovsky cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the Internet Broadway Database
• Works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at Internet Archive
• Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski – Musique Classique – medici.tv
• Mutopia Project Tchaikovsky Sheet Music at Mutopia
• Free scores by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Tchaikovsky Arias and Piano works performed live in Brussels