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Chronology

Adapted from the chronology published in vol. 1 of The Tchaikovsky Handbook (Indiana University Press, 2002), pages xxxi-xli

All dates for events in Russia are given in old style (11 days behind the Western calendar)
1840 April 25 Petr Il'ich Tchaikovsky is born in Votkinsk, some 600 miles east of Moscow; second son of Il'ia Tchaikovsky, a mining engineer, and Aleksandra Tchaikovskaia (b. Assier); has an older brother Nikolai (born 9 May 1838) and paternal half-sister Zinaida (born 1829).
1841 December 28 Birth of his sister Aleksandra (Sasha).
1843 April 10 Birth of his brother Ippolit.
1844 August With his sister Alexandra, he composes a song "Our Mama in Petersburg".
November Fanny Dürbach becomes governess to the Tchaikovsky family.
1845 He takes up piano lessons with Mariia Pal'chikova
1847 He begins to write poetry at school.
1848 September Fanny Dürbach leaves her position as governess, and the Tchaikovsky family moves from Votkinsk to Moscow.
November His family moves to Saint Petersburg, where Tchaikovsky is sent to a boarding school and continues his music lessons with a private teacher.
1849 May His family moves from Saint Petersburg to Alapaevsk in the Ural Mountains, where his father is appointed manager of a metallurgical plant.
1850 May 1 Birth of his twin brothers Anatolii and Modest.
August 22 He sees a production of Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, which makes a lasting impression.
September He enrols in the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg.
October He sees a production of Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle, with Carlotta Grisi.
1851 September His father visits him in Saint Petersburg.
1852 May His family moves from Alapaevsk to join him in Saint Petersburg.
summer He sings the soprano part of a coloratura duet from Rossini's Semiramide with his aunt Ekaterina Alekseeva.
autumn He takes part in a trio in the Liturgy at the School of Jurisprudence, and becomes an active participant in the School's choir.
1853 He forms a friendship with his schoolmate Aleksei Apukthin.
1854 January Marriage of his half-sister Zinaida to Evgenii Ol'khovskii.
June 13 Death of his mother Aleksandra from cholera. 1854
August The Anastasie-Valse is his first-known attempt at written-down composition.
1855 He starts piano lessons with Rudolf Kündinger.
1856 While boarding at the boys-only School of Jurisprudence, the first signs of his innate homosexual sensibilities become apparent, and he becomes infatuated with his schoolfriend Sergei Kireev.
He makes the acquaintance of the Italian singer and voice teacher Luigi Piccioli, who is the first person to recognize his musical talent and significantly influences his musical development.
1857 Under the influence of Piccioli, he becomes an enthusiastic admirer of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Mozart's Don Giovanni also has a profound impact.
1858 autumn He makes his first attempt at conducting the school choir, at the request of singing master Gavriil Lomakin.
1859 May He graduates from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence.
June He begins work as a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice.
1860 While employed at the Ministry of Justice, he becomes a ‘man-about-town', and enjoys operas, theatres and concerts in Saint Petersburg.
November 6 His sister Aleksandra marries Lev Davydov and moves to her husband's family estate at Kamenka in the Ukraine.
1861 spring He indulges in many homosexual escapades, until the risk of scandal grows.
July-August He travels outside Russia for the first time, to Berlin, Hamburg, Antwerp, Brussels, Ostend, London and Paris.
autumn He begins studying harmony in Nikolai Zaremba's music classes in Saint Petersburg, opened by the RMS.
autumn Birth of his eldest niece Tat'iana (Tania), to his sister Aleksandra.
1862 Septembe 8 He enrolls as a student in the newly-opened Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
The song Mezza notte becomes his first published composition.
1863 May He resigns from the Ministry of Justice to concentrate on studying music.
May 16 He is deeply impressed by a performance of Aleksandr Serov's opera Judith.
summer He stays with Aleksei Apukthin at Pavlodar.
autumn He resumes his study of music theory under Zaremba and begins composition classes with Anton Rubinstein.
winter He starts to give private piano lessons.
1864 June-August He spends his summer vacation from the conservatory with his society friend Aleksei Golitsyn at Trostinets in Ukraine. Here he writes his first orchestral piece, The Storm.
autumn He meets the composer Aleksandr Serov in Saint Petersburg.
His brothers Anatolii and Modest learn of Tchaikovsky's homosexuality from their schoolfriends.
1865 His father Il'ia marries for a third time, to Elizaveta Lipport.
summer He spends his summer vacation with his brothers Modest and Anatolii at Kamenka, where he sketches his Overture in C minor.
July-September He translates Gevaert's Handbook for Instrumentation.
August 30 Premiere of the Characteristic Dances in Pavlovsk conducted by Johann Strauss II (the first public performance of any of his works).
October 30 Premiere of the String Quartet in B-flat major at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
November- December He works on his graduation cantata Ode to Joy.
November 27 Premiere of the Overture in F major at the Mikhailovskii Palace in Saint Petersburg, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
December 29 Premiere of the cantata Ode to Joy at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory Graduation examinations, which earns him a silver medal.
1866 January He leaves Saint Petersburg to become teacher of musical theory in the classes of the Moscow branch of the RMS.
February He revises his Overture in F major.
March 4 Premiere of the revised Overture in F major in Moscow.
May-July He spends the summer with his sister's mother-in-law and her daughters Vera and Elizaveta Davydova, and with his brother Modest in Peterhof, while sketching his Symphony No. 1.
July-August He suffers from physical exhaustion as a result of overwork on the symphony.
September 1 He becomes employed at the newly-opened Moscow Conservatory, with Nikolai Rubinstein as its director.
September- November He works on his Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem.
1867 January 29 Premiere of the Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem in Moscow.
March He starts work on his first opera, The Voevoda.
June-August He visits Finland and then spends the summer with the Davydovs at Hapsal [Haapsalu] in Estonia, where Vera Davydova becomes infatuated with him.
July He confides in Modest and Anatolii about his homosexuality.
December He meets the French composer Hector Berlioz, who conducts two concerts in Moscow.
1868 February 3 Premiere of the Symphony No. 1 in Moscow, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein.
February 19 He unsuccessfully conducts his Characteristic Dances in Moscow.
March He writes his first music review article, Regarding Mr Korsakov's Serbian Fantasy.
April He meets Milii Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Aleksandr Dargomyzhskii and Vladimir Stasov, during a trip to Saint Petersburg.
summer He travels to Berlin and Paris with his friend Vladimir Shilovskii.
September He becomes romantically involved with the opera singer Désirée Artôt.
September- December He composes and scores the symphonic fantasia Fatum.
Publication by Jurgenson of the Scherzo à la russe and Impromptu as his “Op. 1”.
1869 January He learns of Désirée Artôt's marriage to Mariano Padila-y-Ramos.
January-July He writes his second opera, Undina.
January 30 Premiere of The Voevoda in Moscow.
February 15 Premiere of the symphonic fantasia Fatum in Moscow.
June Marriage of his brother Ippolit to Sofiia Nikonova.
autumn He meets Milii Balakirev in Moscow, and under his influence writes the overture-fantasia Romeo and Juliet.
He begins a passionate friendship with the conservatory student Eduard Zak.
1870 February He starts work on his third opera, The Oprichnik.
March 4 The premiere of Romeo and Juliet in Moscow passes almost unnoticed by the critics.
May Undina is rejected by the directorate of the Imperial Theatres.
June- August He revises Romeo and Juliet, at Balakirev's instigation.
June He visits his sick friend Vladimir Shilovskii in Paris, then travels to Soden, and on to Mannheim for the Beethoven centennial festival.
July He flees to Switzerland following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.
August After staying at Interlaken, he visits Munich and Vienna on his way back to Moscow.
1871 March 16 An all-Tchaikovsky concert in Moscow includes the premieres of his trio Nature and Love and the String Quartet No. 1.
June He visits his sister Aleksandra at Kamenka.
December 2 Birth of his nephew Vladimir Davydov (Bob) to his sister Aleksandra.
December He visits Nice with Vladimir Shilovskii.
1872 February 5 Premiere of the revised Romeo and Juliet in Saint Petersburg has more success.
February-March He is commissioned to write a Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exposition in Moscow.
April He completes work on The Oprichnik.
May 31 Premiere of the Cantata for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exposition in Moscow.
June-August He spends the summer vacation at Kamenka, Nizy and Usovo, where he sketches his Symphony No. 2.
September He starts regular work as the music critic of the newspaper Russkie vedomosti.
Marriage of his brother Nikolai to Ol'ga Denis'eva
1873 January 26 Premiere of the Symphony No. 2 in Moscow.
March-April He writes music for Aleksandr Ostrovskii's play The Snow Maiden.
May 11 Premiere of The Snow Maiden in Moscow.
June-August He visits Nizy and Kamenka, before travelling to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France.
August- October He works on his symphonic fantasia The Tempest, suggested by Vladimir Stasov.
November 2 Suicide of Eduard Zak, which has a profound effect on Tchaikovsky.
December 7 Premiere of The Tempest in Moscow.
1874 March 10 Premiere of the String Quartet No. 2 in Moscow.
April He travels to Italy, visiting Venice, Rome, Naples and Florence.
April 12 Premiere of The Oprichnik in Saint Petersburg.
June-August He writes the opera Vakula the Smith while staying at Nizy and Usovo.
November He starts work on the Piano Concerto No. 1.
December 24 He plays through the Piano Concerto No. 1 for Nikolai Rubinstein, who is scathing in his verdict. Tchaikovsky refuses to change a note.
1875 June-Augjust He writes his Symphony No. 3 while staying at Usovo, Verbovka and Nizy.
August He starts work on this first ballet, Swan Lake.
October 13/25 Hans von Bülow gives the premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in Boston, USA.
November He meets Camille Saint-Saëns in Moscow.
November 1 Russian premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in Saint Petersburg by Gustav Kross, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein.
November 7 Premiere of the Symphony No. 3 in Moscow.
December He travels to France with his brother Modest, and Modest's deaf-mute pupil Nikolai Konradi.
1876 January He is greatly impressed by Bizet's Carmen in Paris.
January 16 Premiere of the Sérénade mélancolique in Moscow.
March 18 Premiere of the String Quartet No. 3 in Moscow.
April He completes work on Swan Lake.
April 24 Premiere of the Cantata for the Jubilee of O. A. Petrov in Saint Petersburg.
July He travels to Vichy, France, for the cure.
August He attends the premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle in Bayreuth, where he also meets Franz Liszt
September Due to social and family pressures, and alarmed by learning that his brother Modest is also homosexual, he announces his decision to marry.
September He is commissioned to write the Slavonic March in aid of victims of the war between Serbia and Turkey.
September- November He writes the symphonic fantasia Francesca da Rimini.
November 5 Premiere of the Slavonic March in Moscow.
November 4 Premiere of Vakula the Smith in Saint Petersburg.
December He meets Lev Tolstoi in Moscow.
December He receives his first letter from Nadezhda von Meck, and their solely epistolary friendship begins.
December He writes the Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello with orchestra.
1877 January He strikes up a close friendship with the violinist Iosif Kotek.
February 13 He nervously conducts his Slavonic March at the Bol'shoi Theatre in Moscow.
February 25 Premiere of Francesca da Rimini in Moscow.
March-May He makes sketches for his Symphony No. 4.
March 26 Antonina Miliukova writes her first letter to Tchaikovsky.
May He begins to write the opera Evgenii Onegin.
May 20 He meets Antonina Miliukova for the first time in Moscow.
May 23 He proposes marriage to Antonina Miliukova.
July 6 He marries Antonina Miliukova at St. George's Church in Moscow.
July 7-13 The couple spend their honeymoon in Saint Petersburg.
July 14 Tchaikovsky and his wife return to their new apartment in Moscow.
July 27 Tchaikovsky leaves by himself for Kamenka.
September 12 Tchaikovsky returns to his wife in Moscow.
September 24 End of his marriage to Antonina.
October He travels to Switzerland with his brother Anatolii, settling in Clarens.
October Nadezhda von Meck offers him a regular allowance, which gives him financial independence
December 18 Premiere of the Variations on a Rococo Theme in Moscow by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen.
1878 January He travels to San Remo, where he completes the Symphony No. 4 and Evgenii Onegin.
January 13 Death of his half-sister Zinaida.
February 10 Premiere of the Symphony No. 4.
March At Clarens in Switzerland with Iosif Kotek, he writes his Violin Concerto.
May He returns to Russia and spends time at Kamenka, before moving on to the Brailov country estate of Nadezhda von Meck, who is absent. Here he writes the Souvenir d'un lieu cher as a momento of his stay, and the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
August He starts work on the Suite No. 1.
September He returns to the Moscow Conservatory to resume teaching.
November He tenders his resignation from the Moscow Conservatory on health grounds.
December He travels to Italy and settles in Florence, where he starts work on The Maid of Orleans.
December 8/20 Premiere of the Valse-Scherzo in Paris by Stanislaw Barcewicz.
1879 March He returns to Moscow.
March 17 Premiere of Evgenii Onegin in Moscow.
June Premiere of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in Kiev.
June-August He spends the summer at Kamenka and Brailov, where he completes The Maid of Orleans.
October While staying at Kamenka, he starts work on the Piano Concerto No. 2.
October 21 Premiere of the Grand Sonata in Moscow by Nikolai Rubinstein.
November He departs for France and Italy.
December 8 Premiere of the Suite No. 1 in Moscow.
December While in Rome, he revises the Symphony No. 2.
1880 January- February In Rome, he writes the Italian Capriccio.
January 9 Death of his father Il'ia.
March He returns to Russia.
April-November He stays mostly at Kamenka and Brailov.
September- November He writes the Serenade for String Orchestra and the festival overture The Year 1812.
autumn Tchaikovsky is deeply upset when his servant Aleksei Sofronov is conscripted into the army.
December 6 He returns to Moscow, and hears the premiere of the Italian Capriccio.
1881 January- February He visits Saint Petersburg.
January 31 Premiere of the revised Symphony No. 2 in Saint Petersburg.
February 13 Premiere of The Maid of Orleans in Saint Petersburg.
February 14 He departs for Vienna, Florence, Rome and Naples.
March 11/23 While in Nice, he hears of the death of Nikolai Rubinstein in Paris.
March 13/25 He attend's Rubinstein's funeral service in Paris.
April He settles at Kamenka, with occasional visits to Moscow.
June He starts work on the opera Mazepa.
October 18 Premiere of the Serenade for String Orchestra.
October 31/ November 12 Premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Madeline Schiller in New York.
November- December He visits Vienna, Venice, Florence and Rome.
November 22/ December 4 Premiere of the Violin Concerto in Vienna by Adolf Brodsky.
December He sketches his Piano Trio in memory of Nikolai Rubinstein.
1882 April His brother Anatolii marries Praskov'ia Konshina.
May He returns to Kamenka, with occasional visits to Moscow.
May 21 Russian premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in Moscow by Sergei Taneev.
June 7 Premiere of the All-Night Vigil in Moscow.
August 8 Premiere of The Year 1812 at the Arts and Industry Exhibition in Moscow.
October 18 Premiere of the Piano Trio in Moscow.
1883 January He arrives in Paris.
February 19 Premiere of the revised Symphony No. 1 in Moscow.
March He is commissioned to write the Coronation March and the cantata Moscow for the coronation of Tsar Aleksandr III.
May 15 Premiere of the coronation cantata Moscow at the Kremlin in Moscow.
May 23 Premiere of the Coronation March at the coronation of Tsar Aleksandr III in Moscow.
June-December He visits Moscow, Podushkino and Kamenka, where he writes the Suite No. 2.
December 31 His niece Anna Davydova marries Nadezhda von Meck's son Nikolai.
1884 February 3 Premiere of Mazepa in Moscow.
February 4 Premiere of the Suite No. 2 in Moscow.
February 6 He departs for Paris.
March 7 He is summoned to Saint Petersburg for an audience with Aleksandr III, who confers on him the Order of St. Vladimir.
April-September He visits Kamenka, Grankino and Skabeevo, where he writes the Suite No. 3 and the Concert Fantasia for piano with orchestra.
October 19 Saint Petersburg premiere of Evgenii Onegin at the Mariinskii Theatre.
November He visits his dying friend Iosif Kotek in Switzerland.
December 16 Premiere of the Elegy for String Orchestra in Moscow.
1885 January 12 Premiere of the Suite No. 3 in Saint Petersburg.
February 14 He rents a house in the village of Maidanovo, near Klin.
February 22 Premiere of the Concert Fantasia in Moscow.
February-March He revises Vakula the Smith as a new opera with the title Cherevichki.
April-September At Maidanovo, he writes the symphony Manfred, suggested by Milii Balakirev.
September He starts work on the opera The Enchantress.
December 5 Premiere of the Jurisprudence March and Jurists' Song at the 150th anniversary dinner of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg. Tchaikovsky is absent.
1886 March 11 He attends the premiere of Manfred in Moscow.
March 31 He arrives in Tiflis to visit his brother Anatolii.
April 19 He hears the premiere of the revised Romeo and Juliet in Tiflis.
April 29 He leaves Tiflis for Paris, via way of the Mediterranean Sea.
May-June He stays in Paris, where he meets Léo Delibes, Gabriel Fauré, Édouard Lalo, Ambroise Thomas and Pauline Viardot-García.
June 19 He returns to Maidanovo.
1887 January 19 He conducts the premiere of Cherevichki at the Bol'shoi Theatre in Moscow.
January 20 Death of his niece Tat'iana Davydova.
March 7 He conducts the Saint Petersburg premiere of the Suite No. 2.
May He completes the opera The Enchantress.
May 21-28 He travels on a steam-boat down the River Volga from Nizhnii Novgorod to Baku.
June He stays with his brother Anatolii in Tiflis, where he arranges and orchestrates music by Mozart to form his Suite No. 4.
July-August He travels to Aachen to see his friend Nikolai Kondrat'ev, who is critically ill.
October 20 He conducts the premiere of The Enchantress at the Mariinskii Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
November 14 Premiere of the Suite No. 4 in Moscow, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
December 12 Saint Petersburg premiere of the Suite No. 4, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
December 24/ January 5 His first European conducting tour begins with a concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Meetings with Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg and Ethel Smyth.
1888 He is granted a lifetime annuity of 3000 rubles by Aleksandr III.
January 8/20 He conducts at the Conventgarten in Hamburg.
January 16/28 He meets Gustav Mahler.
January 23/ February 4 He meets Désirée Artôt again in Berlin.
January 27/ February 8 He conducts a Philharmonic Society concert in Berlin.
February 7-9/ February 19-21 He conducts two concerts in Prague, and meets Antonín Dvořák.
Febuary-March He conducts three concerts in Paris, and meets Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet, Pauline Viardot-García, and other French musicians.
March 8/20 He conducts a concert at the St. James's Hall in London.
March He returns to Russia and visits brothers Ippolit and Anatolii in Taganrog and Tiflis.
April 24 He settles in a new house at Frolovskoe, near Klin.
May-October He writes the Symphony No. 5 and the overture-fantasia Hamlet.
October He is commissioned by Ivan Vsevolozhskii to write the ballet The Sleeping Beauty.
November 5 Premiere of the Symphony No. 5 in Saint Petersburg, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
November 12 Premiere of the overture-fantasia Hamlet in Saint Petersburg, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
November-December He visits Prague to conduct the Symphony No. 5 and Evgenii Onegin.
December 10 Moscow premiere of the Symphony No. 5, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
December 10 He meets Anton Chekhov in Saint Petersburg.
1889 January-March His second European concert tour, with concerts in Cologne (31 January/12 February), Frankfurt am Main (3/15 February), Dresden (8/20 February), Berlin (14/26 February), Geneva (25 February/9 March), Hamburg (3/15 March) and in London (30 March/11 April).
April-May He travels to Tiflis via the Mediterranean Sea to visit his brother Anatolii.
May 19 He returns home to Frolovskoe.
August He completes work on The Sleeping Beauty.
September 18 He conducts a new production of Evgenii Onegin at the Bol'shoi Theatre in Moscow.
October-November He conducts his own music, and works by Mozart, Glinka, Taneev and Anton Rubinstein.
November 25 Premiere of the Pezzo Capriccioso in Moscow with Anatolii Brandukov, conducted by Tchaikovsky.
1890 January 3 Premiere of The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinskii Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
January-March He stays in Florence, where he sketches The Queen of Spades.
April-September He returns to Russia, staying mainly at Frolovskoe, with occasional visits to Moscow, Lobynskoe, Grankino, Kamenka, Kiev and Khar'kov.
June-Julyl He writes the string sextet Souvenir de Florence.
September 22 Nadezhda von Meck writes her last letter to Tchaikovsky.
September-October He sketches the symphonic ballad The Voevoda
September-October He visits Anatolii in Tiflis.
October 20 He conducts his own works at an RMS concert in Tiflis.
November 28 Premiere of Souvenir de Florence in Saint Petersburg.
December 07 Premiere of The Queen of Spades in Saint Petersburg.
1891 January At the request of his actor friend Lucien Guitry, he writes incidental music for Hamlet.
February He starts work on the ballet The Nutcracker.
February 9 Premiere of the incidental music to Hamlet in Moscow.
March 24/ April 5 He conducts a concert of his own works in Paris.
March 29 Death of his sister Aleksandra.
April 5-14/ April 17-26 He crosses the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship La Bretagne.
April 14/26 He arrives in New York at the start of his American tour, which also takes him to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Baltimore, Washington D. C. and Philadelphia.
April 23/May 5 He conducts his Coronation March at the opening concert of the new Music Hall in New York [later the Carnegie Hall].
May 9/21 He leaves America bound for Hamburg on the Prince Bismarck.
May 28 He returns to his former home at Maidanovo.
July-December He works on the opera Iolanta.
November 4 Moscow premiere of The Queen of Spades.
November 6 He conducts the premiere of the symphonic ballad The Voevoda, and then attempts to destroy the score.
December 21 He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in Kiev.
1892 January 2 He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in Warsaw.
January 7/19 He is impressed by a performance of Evgenii Onegin in Hamburg conducted by Gustav Mahler.
February-March He completes work on the ballet The Nutcracker, from which he compiles a suite.
March 7 Premiere of the suite from The Nutcracker in Saint Petersburg conducted by Tchaikovsky.
April 29 He moves from Maidanovo to his last home at Klin.
May He begins sketches for a Symphony in E-flat major
June He visits Vichy with his nephew Vladimir Davydov.
September-October He travels to Vienna, Itter and Prague.
November He abandons sketches for the Symphony in E-flat major.
November 24 Premiere of the revised sextet Souvenir de Florence in Saint Petersburg.
December 18 Premieres of Iolanta and The Nutcracker at the Mariinskii Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
December 20/ January 1 He visits Fanny Dürbach in Montbeliard, Switzerland
1893 January 2/14 He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in Brussels.
January 12 He arrives in Odessa to conduct a series of concerts of his own works, and to have his portrait painted by Nikolai Kuznetsov.
January 25 He leaves Odessa for Kamenka and Khar'kov.
February 3 He returns to Klin, where he starts to sketch the Symphony No. 6.
March 11 He arrives in Khar'kov to conduct concerts of his own works.
March 18 He returns to Klin and resumes work on the Symphony No. 6.
May 13 He departs for England via Germany.
May 20/June 1 He conducts his Symphony No. 4 at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert in London.
May 31/June 12 He conducts Francesca da Rimini at a concert in Cambridge.
Jun 1/13 He receives an Honorary Doctorate of Music at Cambridge University, together with Boito, Saint-Saëns, Bruch, and Grieg (who is too ill to attend the ceremony).
July 18 He returns home to Klin, where he begins converting the abandoned Symphony in E-flat major into the Piano Concerto No. 3.
August He travels to Hamburg for a production of Iolanta.
October 9 Premiere of the vocal quartet Night in Moscow, in the presence of the composer.
October 10 He arrives in Saint Petersburg to stay at his brother Modest's apartment on Malaia Morskaia.
October 16 He conducts the premiere of the Symphony No. 6 in Saint Petersburg.
October 20 He dines out at Leiner's restaurant with friends.
October 21 He complains of stomach pains, and a doctor is called, who diagnoses cholera.
October 22 Treatment begins, and he feels better.
October 22-23 His condition gradually deteriorates.
October 25 Tchaikovsky dies around 3 a.m. from complications arising from the cholera (uræmia and œdema of lungs).
October 26-27 Requiem services and tributes are held throughout Russia.
October-28 His funeral takes place in the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. He is buried in Tikhvinskii Cemetery at the Aleksandr Nevskii Monastery.