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Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski

Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer born in 1840 and died in 1893. He was only 5 years old when he took up the piano. At the age of 8, he equalled his teacher in reading music and showed a certain talent. After chaotic years in boarding school, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky decided to embark on a musical career despite having obtained a law degree. He became a civil servant to support himself, and at the same time took music theory classes at the Russian Musical Society and then enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1863, he decided to leave his position at the ministry to devote himself definitively to music. He obtained his diploma from the Conservatory and became a professor of music theory while beginning to compose. He composed his first symphony in 1866, Rêves d'hiver, then a second in 1872, Petite Russie. In 1876, he composed his first ballet at the request of the Bolshoi Theatre, Swan Lake, which can be found on the soundtrack of Black Swan. While today this ballet is a reference, at the time it was a total failure due to poor staging. It was not until 25 years later, thanks to Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, that the framework of this work was fixed and the ballet became a success. Although many symphonies, suites, operas, concertos and other chamber music have been written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the two works that have made the biggest impression are Swan Lake (you can find the piano score of Swan Lake on Noviscore) and, of course, The Nutcracker.