Tchaikovsky's music, filled with exuberant emotional flourishes, is a great example of the late "Romantic" period in music. Some criticize it as excessive. Others point out that it has always established a solid connection with listeners across a wide spectrum. And Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" Suites ballet has become, particularly in America, a Christmas icon.

Tchaikovsky's Life

Tchaikovsky, son of civil servant who superintended a mine, displayed an uncommon talent for music as child. He was particularly fond of his mother, a lady given to bouts of real or imagined ill health, and depression. To some extent he inherited those traits. It was a recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which Tchaikovsky could not erase from his mind, that become a central inspiration for Tchaikovsky's future.

Tchaikovsky attended a School of Jurisprudence, and graduated into a civil service job, before finally finding his way into the newly established Saint Petersburg Conservatory of Music.

He married - a relationship not suited to his natural inclinations, and came close to suicide.

Ultimately, it was a relationship with a woman he never met, Nadezhda von Meck, sustained through a voluminous exchange of letters which lasted almost 14 years, accompanied by monetary support from this patroness, which freed Tchaikovsky to do exactly what he had always wanted - spend his full time composing music.

Tchaikovsky's Music

Tchaikovsky's music finds its roots in traditional Russian folk song, and 19 th century Russian music, but transcends both.

The widespread appeal of Tchaikovsky's music is evident in the fact that literally hundreds of motion pictures have used Tchaikovsky pieces in their musical scores.

The theme to the video game "Tetris" for many years was based on a piece from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker".

Recommended for Newbies:

The Overture of 1812 - the famous piece in which a live canon fires at the end

Swan Theme from Swan Lake

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

Piano Concerto No. 1

Symphony No. 5

The Seasons, Op. 37B