Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Born in Votkinsk, he trained first for the civil service before studying at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, then joined the Moscow Conservatory faculty. His output spans symphonies, concertos, operas including Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, and the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, alongside overtures, chamber music, and songs. A patronage arrangement with Nadezhda von Meck supported years of his work. He conducted internationally, including a tour of the United States. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1893; the cause remains a subject of scholarly debate.