Tchaikovsky

John Suchet

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781643131337
• eBook ISBN: 9781643131702
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one of the most successful composers that Russia has ever produced, but his path to success was not an easy one.A shy, emotional child, intended for the civil service by his father, Tchaikovsky came late to composing as a career, and despite his success he was a troubled character. Doubting himself at every turn, he was keenly wounded by criticism. The death of his mother haunted him all his life and his incessant attempts to suppress his homosexuality took a huge toll.From Tchaikovsky's disastrous marriage to his extraordinary relationship with his female patron, his many amorous liaisons, and his devotion to friends and family, Suchet shows us how the complexity of Tchaikovsky's emotional life plays out in his music. A man who was by turns quick to laugh and to despair, his mercurial temperament found its outlet in some of the most emotionally intense music ever written.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Family Tree
• Author’s Note
• Prologue
• 1. Pyotr, the Fledgling Seagull
• 2. Upheavals and Loss
• 3. An Unbearable Farewell
• 4. Guilt and the Cruellest Loss
• 5. A Difficult Journey
• 6. Pyotr Chooses Music
• 7. Tchaikovsky, Music Teacher
• 8. The Ladies’ Man
• 9. A Most Unlikely Affair
• 10. A Tragic Love
• 11. The Lake of the Swans
• 12. Unexpected Inspiration
• 13. Bending the Rules
• 14. Misery and Defiance
• 15. Swan Lake – and Failure
• 16. In Love – and Alone
• 17. A Woman Enters His Life
• 18. ‘She Is Repulsive to Me’
• 19. Fate
• 20. ‘It Stinks to the Ear’
• 21. A Sort of Freedom
• 22. The Boulevardier
• 23. An Impenetrable Secret
• 24. A Family Crisis
• 25. A Benefactor Bids ‘Adieu’
• 26. On Tour and Unhappy
• 27. A Musical ‘Adieu’?
• Postscript
• Afterword
• Timeline
• Select Bibliography
• References
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Picture Credits
• Copyright