Great
Classical Music
Composers

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY

7 May 1840 - 6 November 1893 (age 53)

Portrait by Paul Helm ©
click on image for more info

Tchaikovsky is probably THE most popular classical composer of all time. Best known for his ballet music and symphonies.

click on the above image for information about it.

Portrait by Paul Helm ©

Family

Father: Ilya Petrovich, Ukrainian descent, son of a mining engineer.
Mother: Alexandra, Russian of partial French ancestry and the second of Ilya's three wives
Siblings: 4 brothers, 1 sister
Wife: Antonina Ivanovana Milyukoff, on July 6, 1877. (Marriage didn't last long because of his homosexual nature)
Children: none.

Works

Operas:
10 operas including:
-Eugenen Onegin
-The Maid of Orleans
-Queen of Spades
-Iolanthe
Ballets:
-Swan Lake
-The Sleeping Beauty
-The Nutcracker
-Snow Maiden
-Hamlet
Orchestral:
-6 Symphonies
-Various overtures
-3 Piano Concertos
Other:
-Chamber works
-Piano works
-Songs
-Choral works

A Video Documentary

An interesting documentary on the life and music of Tchaikovsky by 'How Stuff Works'.

It lasts about 35 minutes and opens in a new window.

Click on the image.

Quotes

- "I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous."

- “Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.”

- “The creative process is like music which takes root with extraordinary force and rapidity”

- "A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood."

- "What I have set down in a moment of ardour I must then critically examine. Sometimes I must do myself violence before I can mercilessly erase things thought out with love."

2010 Classical Music Calendar

This calendar has 12 of my portraits of famous composers, including Pyotr.

Also Bach, Puccini, Mozart, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Brahms,Vivaldi, Handel, Rossini, Bernstein and Verdi.

Jan - Dec 2010. US Holidays.

The 2011 version should be ready in October 2010. If you would like me to tell you when it is available let me know.

You can buy it at cafepress

Tchaikovsky on eBay

You will find lots of Tchaikovsky related items on eBay, some new, some used, some common, some rare. Always good for a browse - you never know what you may find!

Tchaikovsky on Benjamin Franklin's Glass Armonica

The Glass Armonica

This odd instrument in the above video was one of Benjamin Franklin's favourite inventions. Interesting. Find out more about it at the following sites.

GlassArmonica.com

Wikipedia entry

Classical Music - Russian composers calendar calendar

Classical Music - Russian composers calendar by paulhelm
View more Classical music Calendars

12 portraits of Russian composers: Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Mussorgsky, Glinka, Balakirev, Prokofiev.