7^th May, 1840, Kamsko-Votkinsk Zavod - the date and place of birth of the first Russian composer whose music became internationally acknowledged.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in a bourgeois family. His father, Ilya Petrovich, was an engineer who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Department of Mines, and his mother, Alexandra Andreyevna née d'Assier, was part of a wealthy French family that immigrated to Russia after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Even though both his parents were art lovers, especially music lovers, they believed that Pyotr should become a magistrate. After graduating from the Law school, he became an assistant at the Ministry of Justice, but only for a short period of time.

The beginning of his music career

In 1863, against his family's decision, he left his job at the ministry and began to study music, having Anton Rubinstein as a teacher. After graduating from the Conservatory, Anton's brother, Nikolai Rubinstein, offered him the post of Professor of Music Theory at the newly-opened Moscow Conservatory, that he held until 1878. During this period he wrote Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, 'Winter Dreams'. He became friends with many members of The Five; the Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture was dedicated to Mily Balakirev, the founder of the group.

From1875, his circle of acquaintances in the world of music grew larger; he became friends with Camille Saint-Saëns, he visited Franz Liszt, Georges Bizet (whose work Carmen, had captivated him) and Jules Massent.

The most important year for Tchaikovsky was 1876, when Nikolai Rubinstein, the director of the Moscow Conservatory, put him in touch with Madam Von Meck (who had hired Claude Debussy as a music tutor for one of her daughters). She became his secret adviser and his patron, without them ever meeting - this being the agreement settled from the start. The money she was providing him with kept Tchaikovsky away from any financial problems.

His creation - a mix of classical and traditional

Tchaikovsky's work is a happy synthesis between Western classical works and the Russian tradition, which is also represented in his age by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky and The Five.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the composer to whom we dedicate eight hours of music during the One Weekend, One Composer show, at the end of the second week of July. We have prepared a series of opuses in the most appreciated interpretative versions, such as, The Manfred Symphony in B minor, and 'The Seasons' - a series of piano concerts, selections from both the Eugene Onegin opera and the Swan Lake ballet - hisFirst Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and the famous Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35.

You are invited to discover more about it on our frequencies, Saturday and Sunday, 11^th and 12^th July, starting at 13:05 on the One Weekend, One Composer show - this summer only on Radio Romania Music.