TCHAIKOVSKY, PYOTR ILYICH

born April 25 [May 7, New Style], 1840, Votkinsk, Russia died October 25 [November 6], 1893, St. Petersburg Tchaikovsky also spelled Chaikovsky, Chaikovskii, or Tschaikowsky name in full Anglicized as Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky the most popular Russian composer of all time. His music has always had great appeal for the general public in virtue of its tuneful, open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies, and colourful, picturesque orchestration, all of which evoke a profound emotional response. His oeuvre includes 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos, a violin concerto, 11 overtures (strictly speaking, 3 overtures and 8 single movement programmatic orchestral works), 4 cantatas, 20 choral works, 3 string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces. Additional reading Basic source material on Tchaikovsky may be found in Modeste Tchaikovsky (Modest Ilich Chaikovskii), The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, trans. from Russian and ed. by Rosa Newmarch (1906, reprinted in 2 vol., 1973); Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky), The Diaries of Tchaikovsky, trans. from Russian with notes by Wladmir Lakond (pseudonym of Walter Lake) (1945, reprinted 1973), Letters to His Family: An Autobiography, trans. from Russian (1973, reissued 1982), and To My Best Friend: Correspondence Between Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck, 18761878, trans. from Russian, ed. by Edward Garden and Nigel Gotteri (1993); also David Brown, Tchaikovsky Remembered (1993); Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky's Last Days (1996); and Alexander Poznansky (compiler and ed.), Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes, trans. from Russian (1999). The most recent biographies are John Warrack, Tchaikovsky (1973, reprinted 1989); Vladimir Volkoff, Tchaikovsky: A Self-Portrait (1975); David Brown, Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study, 4 vol. (197891); Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man (1991, reissued 1993). Specialized discussions of his music may be found in Eric Blom, Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Works (1927, reprinted 1970); John Warrack, Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Concertos, 2nd ed. (1974); Roland John Wiley, Tchaikovsky's Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker (1985, reissued 1991); and Henry Zajaczkowski, Tchaikovsky's Musical Style (1987). Works that consider the cultural context of his time include Leslie Kearney (ed.), Tchaikovsky and His World (1998); and Alexandar Mihailovic (ed.), Tchaikovsky and His Contemporaries: A Centennial Symposium (1999). Aleksander V. Poznansky