Biography
Aliases: None
Home Country: Russia
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7th, 1840 NS in the small town of Votkinsk which is now located in Udmurtia. At the age of five he started piano lessons and rapidly became successful with it. When he was ten, his father was appointed to the St. Petersburg Technological Institute where he enrolled Tchaikovsky to start learning jurisprudence and continue his work with the piano. During this time his father also introduced him to several well known music teachers who would encourage him to study many musical cultures. At the age of 14, Tchaikovsky's mother passed away and he wrote a waltz to commemorate her.
At 18 Tchaikovsky graduated and began work as an under-secretary for the Ministry of Justice. He joined the Ministry's choral group. At 21 he began to take formal lessons in music once more while still working in the Ministry. The next year he moved to the St. Petersburg Conservatory with his music teacher and convinced his father to support him so that he may study music full time. Tchaikovsky continued to study music until 1865 when he graduated. After graduation, Tchaikovsky was offered a teaching position which he gladly accepted. He taught for ten years before having a breakdown from the pressure. He took a year off, and attempted to resume teaching but he was unable and quit for good. He then overcame his stage fright and took to conducting and composing his most famous works such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and the 1812 Overture.
Even though Tchaikovsky was a homosexual, in 1877 he married Antonina Miliukova. The marriage was poorly thought out and left Tchaikovsky very depressed to the point where he attempted suicide. Although some historians maintain that Tchaikovsky was heterosexual due to lack of evidence of male lovers, most argue that because of Russia's intolerance of homosexuality at the time he was forced to keep his sexuality a secret. However, when several of his letters and diary entries are read most agree that he was indeed a homosexual.
Tchaikovsky wrote many ballets, operas, symphonies, and orchestral suites before his death on November 6th, 1893 NS.
Note: Since Tchaikovsky was not a videogame music composer, his gameography is in alphabetical order.
| 
