Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky , Composer

" A Great Composer"

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840. When Peter was born his family lived on a small estate in Votkinsk, a town near the Ural Mountains in central Russia. His father was French but his mother was Russian. She played the piano, and little Peter soon imitated her. His father had moved to Moscow when he was eight years old. When he later moved to Moscow , he attended the school of Jurisprudence. Sadly, Peter's mother died in the summer of 1854 of cholera.

Peter later begins his music career. Some of his first ballets were Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Joan of Arc, O'dette . In his ballet Swan Lake, a woman cursed by a wizard is changed into a swan. Peter had a #1 symphony called Winter Dreams in 1868. He met a Belgian singer named Desiree Artet. In a few months after their relationship started, she married someone else. After the terrible breakup, Peter started to compose all around the world. He had his symphony #2 which was nicknamed , "The Little Russian." He originally wrote Piano Concerto #1 in 1875 and became very famous. At one time, he was Russia's most famous composer. In the year 1876 he premiered Swan Lake, where he met face to face with Russia's most famous writer, Leo Tolstoy.

In March 1877, Swan Lake was performed for the first time. Today it is considered the greatest ballet anyone has ever seen. In 1877, the Queen of England asked him to compose a simple piano and violin arrangement. Peter was later found out to be a homosexual. Perhaps he felt he had to keep his sexual orientation a secret. On night he attempted suicide because of all the stress he had been through in his life.

By late 1887, Tchaikovsky was famous well beyond the borders of Russia. In 1890, he suffered a terrible illness in result of a massive blizzard. Mozart was Tchaikovsky's musical idol and he later finished Mozart's work. He became the best composer of Russia. on day peter drank a glass of unboiled water and came down with. He died in just 4 days on November 6, 1893.