By Opal Wheeler - The Story of Peter Tchaikovsky

Great Musicians

by Opal Wheeler

Little Peter was born in the small mining town of Votkinsk, Russia, not far from the border of Asia. His father was a mine inspector. Miss Wheeler has shown sympathetically yet quite frankly what a nervous, unpredictable child Peter was and how his love for music, even as a very little boy, was almost greater than he could bear.Any sort of routine or application to work was impossible for him, and as a result, when a young man he could not bring himself to practice law. However, music still beckoned, and under the great Anton Rubinstein, he made certain progress. Here again, though, he broke all the established rules for composing and drove his master to despair. It was early one morning, seated at a table in the deserted dining room of an inn, that he wrote the first draft of his first symphony.

Here is a fascinating picture of Tchaikovsky the brilliant composer and delightful companion. It is perfect for young readers.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is much closer to 4 stars than 3, but not quite 4 stars. 3.75? Can that be a rating?

I really like this series on the lives of different composers. Tchaikovsky is our composer for this term and this is usually something we’d read for school. But I was unsure of what I wanted to do next for our read aloud, so we did this as a read aloud. I liked this one but not as much as others we’ve read. But it was interesting to read about Tchaikovsky’s early life and love for music.

[Karyn Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books by Opal Wheeler is my favorite resource to use for teaching kids about the lives of famous musicians. They are reprinted from older versions and are great!! We have read many of them now and just adore reading them! We read this just before Christmas and are now reading the one on the Nutcracker so we can be prepared for watching the Nutcracker Ballet this month.