Collection: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Votkinsk, May 7, 1840 – Saint Petersburg, November 6, 1893) was a Russian composer of the late Romantic period, whose compositions are among the most well-known in the classical repertoire. He combined characteristics of traditional Russian music with classical musical practice in his style, in contrast to the aesthetic vision of The Five, which was based on greater musical nationalism.

Although he showed early musical talent, Tchaikovsky studied law. In Russia at the time, musical education was unregulated and opportunities to study music academically were limited. When such opportunities arose for him, he abandoned his legal career and entered the newly established Saint Petersburg Conservatory. After completing his studies, he forged his own Russian musical style, consolidating the use of classical compositional conventions alongside traditional Russian music, thus achieving international renown, although not always well-received by Russian critics.

Despite popular success, his life was marked by events that led him to depression and a fatalistic view of existence: in his youth, the death of his mother, the subsequent breakdown of interpersonal relationships, and the unacceptability of his homosexuality in the society of the time contributed to this condition. His death is officially attributed to cholera, but its circumstances are debated; suicide has also been hypothesized, either through voluntary contagion with the disease or by another form of poisoning.