Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Essay

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a famous Russian composer that has written many well known works. He has written some of the world's greatest classical and romantic melodies and has written some of the world's famous ballet music. His three most famous ballets include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty. Born on May 7th, 1840 in Votkinsk Russia, the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky became a musician at an early age. At age four he was already loving music. He and his younger sister, Alexandra, recorded their first song that they wrote. At age five, he started to take piano lessons and became fond of Frédéric Chopin’s mazurkas and the piano pieces of Friedrich Kalkbrenner. After three years of piano lessons, he was able to read

Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director, approached Tchaikovsky and asked if it was possible for him to write a score for the ballet. After the failure of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky did not want to do another ballet. But, after reading the story and falling in love with it, he wanted to immediately write the score for the ballet. Without hesitation, Tchaikovsky worked quickly and finished the score in less than 40 days. Unlike The Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky kept in touch with the director and the choreographer so that the music would fit in perfectly. The melodies that he wrote for the ballet are described as sweet, warm and magical. The premiere of The Sleeping Beauty ballet was held on January 15, 1890 and took place in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre. The three-act ballet was loved by the audience and was highly praised by the public. This was surely one of his successful ballet and he was highly pleased with his work. Not only it was one of his successful ballets, but it was also his longest. The ballet was almost four hours long! The Sleeping Beauty is still one of the most well known ballets in the world and is highly praised by the