Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93)
Composer
Having studied law, he started out as a civil servant and worked his way through the St Petersburg conservatory studying under Anton Rubinstein and, later, at the Moscow conservatoire under Nicolai Rubinstein.
Although he is perhaps the most famous of all Russian composers, his music is not especially nationalistic but, rather, intensely emotional, drawing on his own sensitivities. Against his nature, he entered into a doomed marriage. He was sustained both financially and emotionally by a curious relationship with his patroness Madame von Meck - whom he never met.
Browse: Tchaikovsky
Further Reading: Tchaikovsky
Interview,
Septura on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
12th December 2019
David talks to Septura's Matthew Knight and Simon Cox about their newly-released recording of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, arranged for brass septet and narrated by Derek Jacobi.
Recording of the Week,
Kirill Petrenko conducts Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony
17th May 2019
Recorded live in concert in 2017, the Berliner Philharmoniker's first album with their new Chief Conductor augurs very well indeed for their new partnership.
Popular Works: Tchaikovsky
- 1812 Overture, Op. 49 (281)
- Album for the Young, Op. 39 (36)
- Capriccio italien, Op. 45 (184)
- Cherevichki (The Slippers) (4)
- Elegy for strings (23)
- Eugene Onegin (45)
- Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 (111)
- Hamlet - Fantasy overture, Op. 67 (43)
- Iolanta (11)
- Jeanne d'Arc, La Pucelle d'Orleans (2)
- Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op. 41 (11)
- Manfred Symphony, Op. 58 (62)
- Marche slave, Op. 31 (164)
- Mazeppa (5)
- Morceaux (18), Op. 72 (9)
- Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 for cello & orchestra (or cello & piano) (49)
- Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 (350)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44 (63)
- Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 75 (43)
- Piano Sonata No. 2 in C sharp minor, Op. 80 (17)
- Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 'In Memory of a Great Artist' (89)
- Pique Dame (24)
- Romeo & Juliet - Fantasy Overture (304)
- Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48 (141)
- Sérénade Mélancolique for Violin & Orchestra in B minor, Op. 26 (106)
- Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 (67)
- Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42 (93)
- Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70 (70)
- String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 (60)
- String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 22 (26)
- String Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor, Op. 30 (29)
- Suite No. 1 in D minor, Op. 43 (15)
- Suite No. 2 in C major, Op. 53 (14)
- Suite No. 4 in G major, Op.61 'Mozartiana' (25)
- Swan Lake, Op. 20 (95)
- Swan Lake, Op. 20 Suite (84)
- Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13 'Winter Daydreams' (86)
- Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 'Little Russian' (108)
- Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 'Polish' (81)
- Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (246)
- Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (305)
- Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathétique' (319)
- The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a (158)
- The Nutcracker, Op. 71 (130)
- The Seasons, Op. 37b (77)
- The Tempest, Op. 18 (39)
- The Voyevoda, symphonic ballad Op. 78 (22)
- Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (177)
- Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (344)
