Tchaikovsky Pyotr

Tchaikovsky Pyotr (1840-1893), Russian composer. Honorary Doctor of Music of Cambridge University (1893). Born in Votkinsk (Udmurtia), Russia. In 1861-65 he studied at the  Petersburg conservatoire (A. Rubinstein’s class of composition). Till 1885, he lived mostly abroad; in 1885, he settled not far away from Moscow. In 1886-90, P. Tchaikovsky visited Georgia for five times. In 1890 he lived on Consul Street in the Sololaki District of Tbilisi. Later on, the street was renamed Pyotr Tchaikovsky Street. The composer spent June-July of 1887 in Borjomi, where he underwent medical treatment for his health reasons. After leaving Borjomi, he wrote: ‘I believe, it is the most beautiful place in the world’. During his stay in Tbilisi and Borjomi, P. Tchaikovsky created his concerto suite Mozartiana, sextet Memories of Florence; there he worked on The Sleeping Beauty; he used the melody of Georgian lullaby in his ballet The Nutcracker. In Georgia he also wrote his chorus piece‘ Blessed is, who smiles’. P. Tchaikovsky’s best operas – Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Maid of Orleans, Mazepa, Yolanta - were staged at the Tbilisi Opera Theater during his lifetime.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky died in Saint-Petersburg.