Book #25 Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Critical Lives

Pyotr Tchaikovsky by Philip Ross Bullock
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am very fond of much of the music composed by Tchaikovsky. The ballet suites Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker all contain beautiful melodies. There is melancholia too in his work. Who is not moved by the 2nd movement of the String Quartet No.1, the requiem like Symphony No.6 Pathétique or the soaring Romeo & Juliet Fantasy?

This account of Tchaikovsky’s life by Philip Ross Bullock, Professor of Russian Literature and Music at the University of Oxford is just one of the series Critical Lives published by Reaktion Books. Bullock draws extensively on the composer’s uncensored letters and diaries and explores Tchaikovsky’s central place within the artistic culture of nineteenth-century Russia. The composer was recognised as a figure of international renown.

Nadezhda von Meck was the wealthy widow of a railway magnate and became an influential patron to Tchaikovsky for many years. Much of his income came from her. Astonishing then that they never met, although they exchanged hundreds of letters. It came as a shock then, when in 1890 she suddenly withdrew her patronage following what appeared to be her own financial ruin.

It was well known amongst members of his family and his peers and associates that Tchaikovsky was homosexual and naively confessional. He yearned for a quiet life and found the social obligations that fame entailed - burdensome. His marriage ‘of convenience’ in 1877 to Antonina Milyukova was short lived. His letters at that time showed a sense of anxiety and foreboding. The marriage was never consummated.

Tchaikovsky’s sudden and unexpected death in October 1893 occurred just nine days after the first performance of the Pathétique. He died from cholera at the age of 53.

Bullock’s account will be of significant interest for all those who enjoy classical music, containing as it does introductions to the composer’s most recognised pieces and a select Discography.

5 stars from me for this comprehensive insight into Russia’s most celebrated composer.

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