The genius of Peter Llych Tchaikovsky is so awesome! His recurring tenure as a professor of the famous school of the Five Russian Composers (including Glinka among others). He was known for his wide range of styles from the bach-sounding music to the wider-reaching music that is cognisent of the much later 20th century and contemporary styles of music like those of Stravinsky, and his contemporaries.
Amidst years of troubling wondering, and his tough marriage and other things, he has come up with a staggering amount of operas and operettas, his piano concertos that are some of the most illustrious and extravagant works. It is inspiring to note that after his first years as a composer that he fell on hard times with immense depression. He had a relationship with one lady from the conservatory that he once taught at. This prompted his years of wondering and writer’s block. We all face these dry periods where either as writers or composers have no interest in writing. There are no ideas flowing. This period yielded his Violin Concerto, the orchestration of his Fourth Symphony and Eugene Onegin, his first big opera. These works, albeit from the less inspired time of the composer’s career have a big sense of majesty and boldness while being exceptionally curious. Most of the tone of all of these works is minor in key, hinting at his lostness and sadness of his broken relationships. It is a beautiful rehashing of the Romantic-Era melodies everyone loves. Also during his huge period of wandering years, he would travel in and out of Russia sporadically composing some of his best works. One of these works, which the composer himself said to one of his associates, “… Therefore [the work] will probably have no artistic merits in it (wikipedia). He basically had no faith in the 1812 Overture, that featured a complete orchestra complete with cannons. The composer figured this would not be suitable for symphony work. He confided in Von Meck, his patroness for many years of his life and career and predicted the 1812 Overture not to be a spanning success. To his surprise, it has been one of the most enduring works that has withstood the test of time. The whole symphony is certainly memorable, but the last few minutes of the symphony with or without the canons blasting in the foreground is what everyone knows as the “main theme” of the work.
Upon returning to Russia after this big moment, the composer preferred to bask in solitude even when his reputation improved to a peak. He was requested by the Tsar to redo Eugene Onegin. He staged a glorious new presentation of the opera as further gratitude for Tchaikovsky’s work. The composer’s magnificent Orchestral Suite #3 was also written during this time. All of this good work led to Tchaikovsky getting appointed court composer at Alexander III’s place. He was also honored with the honorary Doctor of Music for all of his contributions to music before and after his tenure at the Moscow Conservatory. His final symphony, “The Pathetique” (a nod to Beethoven’s symphony of the same name) sealed the price of his fame, with the composer himself conducting the premier in St. Petersburg. He died nine days after. What a legacy!
