Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Angst-ridden, Tchaikovsky was to suffer throughout his life from insomnia, depression and panic attacks. Spared from any material worries for thirteen years by his patron, Madame von Meck, Tchaikovsky devoted himself entirely to his compositions without ever meeting the generous baroness. In 1893, he composed the Pathétique Symphony, an orchestral masterpiece of rare intensity, and mysteriously died nine days after completing the score. Officially, he succumbed to cholera although it was possible that he died of arsenic poisoning in order to silence the “scandal” of his homosexuality, which was a dishonour to the Law School of his youth.

Profoundly melancholic, Tchaikovsky’s music remains timeless; traditional symphonic art, which works miracles in his symphonies, alternates with freer forms of programme music. His often nostalgic, lyrical expression allied with perfectly controlled writing, made Tchaikovsky one of the masters of ballet music. Between grace and destitution, the composer left pages of miraculous poetry.