Tschaikowsky

by David Mountfield

Book by Mountfield, David

Genres: Biography

95 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

Reviews

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably one of my favorite reading experiments I've ever done. With my iPad next to me I read Tchaikovsky's biography while listening to each piece mentioned as his musical composition skills evolved. What was a bit shocking was how late he started - about 25 yrs old but was cut short just when his music was seriously maturing at age 53. I had no idea he was homosexual and how that caused him such immense grief in his life - including a participating factor in his death. Also, reading the Russian musical explosion right at the time of his life in the 1850s-1870s of "The Five" with Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Borodin, Mussorgsky, and Balakirev is one of those amazing flowerings of culture at the same time.