| Year |
Date
(Old Style) |
Date
(New Style) |
Event |
| 1840 |
April 25 |
May 7 |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is born in
Votkinsk, some 600 miles east of Moscow;
second son of Ilya Tchaikovsky,
a mining engineer, and
Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya (b. Assier); has an older brother
Nikolay (born 9 May 1838)
and paternal half-sister Zinayda
(born 1829) |
| 1841 |
December 28 |
1842 January 9 |
Birth of his sister Aleksandra
(Sasha) |
| 1843 |
April 10 |
April 22 |
Birth of his brother Ippolit |
| 1844 |
August |
August |
With his sister Aleksandra,
he composes a song "Our Mama in
Petersburg" |
| November |
November |
Fanny Dürbach becomes governess
to the Tchaikovsky family |
| 1845 |
|
|
He takes up piano lessons with Mariya Palchikova |
| 1847 |
|
|
He begins to write poetry at school |
| 1848 |
September |
September |
Fanny Dürbach leaves her position
as governess, and the Tchaikovsky family moves from
Votkinsk to
Moscow |
| November |
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 |
May |
His family moves from Saint
Petersburg to Alapayevsk in the
Ural Mountains, where his father
is appointed manager of a metallurgical plant |
| 1850 |
May 1 |
May 13 |
Birth of his twin brothers
Anatoly and
Modest |
| August 22 |
September 3 |
He sees a production of Mikhail
Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, which makes a lasting impression |
| September |
September |
He enrols in the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in
Saint Petersburg |
| October |
October |
He sees a production of Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle, with
Carlotta Grisi |
| 1851 |
September |
September |
His father visits him in
Saint Petersburg |
| 1852 |
May |
May |
His family moves from Alapayevsk
to join him in Saint Petersburg |
| summer |
summer |
He sings the soprano part of a coloratura duet from
Rossini's Semiramide with
his aunt Yekaterina Alekseyeva |
| autumn |
autumn |
He takes part in a trio in the Liturgy at the School of Jurisprudence,
and becomes an active participant in the Schools choir |
| 1853 |
|
|
He forms a friendship with his schoolmate
Aleksey Apukhtin |
| 1854 |
January |
January |
Marriage of his half-sister
Zinayda to Yevgeny Olkhovsky |
| June 13 |
June 25 |
Death of his mother
Aleksandra from cholera |
| August |
August |
The Anastasie-valse
is his earliest 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 Sergey Kireyev |
|
|
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 |
autumn |
He makes his first attempt at conducting the school choir, at the
request of singing master Gavryl Lomakin |
| 1859 |
May 13 |
May 25 |
He graduates from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence |
| June |
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 |
November 18 |
His sister Aleksandra
marries Lev Davydov and moves to
her husband's family estate at Kamenka
in the Ukraine |
| 1861 |
spring |
spring |
He indulges in many homosexual escapades, until the risk of scandal
grows |
| July–August |
July–August |
He travels outside Russia for the first time, to
Berlin,
Hamburg, Antwerp,
Brussels,
Ostend,
London and Paris |
| autumn |
autumn |
He begins studying harmony in
Nikolay Zaremba's music classes
in Saint Petersburg, opened
by the RMS |
| Birth of his eldest niece Tatyana
(Tanya), to his sister Aleksandra |
| 1862 |
September 8 |
September 20 |
He enrols as a student in the newly-opened
Saint Petersburg Conservatory |
|
|
The song Mezza notte
becomes his first published composition |
| 1863 |
spring |
spring |
He attends all six of Richard
Wagner's concerts in Saint
Petersburg |
| April 11 |
April 23 |
He resigns from the Ministry of Justice to concentrate on studying
music |
| May 16 |
May 28 |
He is deeply impressed by a performance of
Aleksandr Serov's opera Judith |
| summer |
summer |
He stays with Aleksey Apukhtin
at Pavlodar |
| autumn |
autumn |
He resumes his study of music theory under Zaremba and begins composition
classes with Anton Rubinstein |
| winter |
winter |
He starts to give private piano lessons |
| 1864 |
June–August |
June–August |
He spends his summer vacation from the conservatory with his society
friend Aleksey Golitsyn at Trostinets
in Ukraine. Here he writes his first orchestral piece,
The Storm |
| autumn |
autumn |
He meets the composer Aleksandr
Serov in Saint Petersburg |
|
|
His brothers Anatoly
and Modest learn of Tchaikovsky's
homosexuality from their schoolfriends |
| 1865 |
|
|
His father Ilya marries
for a third time, to Yelizaveta
Lipport |
| summer |
summer |
He spends his summer vacation with his brothers
Modest and
Anatoly at
Kamenka, where he sketches his
Overture in C minor |
| July–September |
July–September |
He translates Gevaert's
Handbook for Instrumentation |
| August 30 |
September 11 |
Premiere of the Characteristic
Dances in
Pavlovsk conducted by
Johann Strauss II (the first public performance of any of his works) |
| October 30 |
November 11 |
Premiere of the String Quartet
in B♭ major at the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory |
| November– December |
November– December |
He works on his graduation cantata
Ode to Joy |
| November 27 |
December 9 |
Premiere of the Overture
in F major at the Mikhaylovsky Palace in
Saint Petersburg, conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| December 29 |
1866 January 10 |
Premiere of the cantata
Ode to Joy at the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
Graduation examinations, which earns him a silver medal |
| 1866 |
January |
January |
He leaves Saint Petersburg
to become teacher of musical theory in the classes of the
Moscow branch of the RMS |
| February |
February |
He revises his Overture
in F major |
| March 4 |
March 16 |
Premiere of the revised
Overture in F major in
Moscow |
| May–July |
May–July |
He spends the summer with his sister's mother-in-law and her daughters
Vera and Yelizaveta Davydova, and
with his brother Modest in
Peterhof, while sketching
his Symphony No. 1 |
| July–August |
July–August |
He suffers from physical exhaustion as a result of overwork on the
symphony |
| September 1 |
September 13 |
He becomes employed at the newly-opened
Moscow Conservatory, with
Nikolay Rubinstein as its
director |
| September– November |
September– November |
He works on his Festival
Overture on the Danish National Anthem |
| 1867 |
January 29 |
February 10 |
Premiere of the Festival
Overture on the Danish National Anthem in
Moscow |
| March |
March |
He starts work on his first opera,
The Voyevoda |
| June–August |
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 |
July |
He confides in Modest
and Anatoly about his
homosexuality |
| December |
December |
He meets the French composer
Hector Berlioz, who conducts two concerts in
Moscow |
| 1868 |
February 3 |
February 15 |
Premiere of the Symphony
No. 1 in Moscow, conducted by
Nikolay Rubinstein |
| February 19 |
March 2 |
He unsuccessfully conducts his
Characteristic Dances
in Moscow |
| March |
March |
He writes his first music review article,
Regarding Mr Korsakov's "Serbian
Fantasy" |
| April |
April |
He meets Mily Balakirev,
Aleksandr Borodin,
César Cui,
Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky
and Vladimir Stasov, during
a trip to Saint Petersburg |
| summer |
summer |
He travels to Berlin and
Paris with his friend
Vladimir Shilovsky |
| September |
September |
He becomes romantically involved with the opera singer
Désirée Artôt |
| September– December |
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 |
January |
He learns of Désirée Artôt's
marriage to Mariano Padilla-y-Ramos |
| January–July |
January–July |
He writes his second opera,
Undina |
| January 30 |
February 11 |
Premiere of The Voyevoda
in Moscow |
| February 15 |
February 27 |
Premiere of the symphonic fantasia
Fatum in
Moscow |
| June |
June |
Marriage of his brother
Ippolit to Sofya Nikonova |
| autumn |
autumn |
He meets Mily 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 |
February |
He starts work on his third opera,
The Oprichnik |
| March 4 |
March 16 |
The premiere of Romeo
and Juliet in Moscow passes almost
unnoticed by the critics |
| May |
May |
Undina is rejected
by the directorate of the Imperial Theatres |
| June– August |
June– August |
He revises Romeo and
Juliet, at Balakirev's
instigation |
| June |
June |
He visits his sick friend
Vladimir Shilovsky in
Paris, then travels to
Soden, and on to
Mannheim for the
Beethoven centennial festival |
| July |
July |
He flees to Switzerland following the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian
War |
| August |
August |
After staying at
Interlaken,
he visits
Munich and
Vienna on his way back
to Moscow |
| 1871 |
March 16 |
March 28 |
An all-Tchaikovsky concert in Moscow
includes the premieres of his trio
Nature and Love and
the String Quartet No. 1.
Ivan Turgenev attends this concert,
but Tchaikovsky avoids being introduced to him |
| June |
June |
He visits his sister Aleksandra
at Kamenka |
| December 2 |
December 14 |
Birth of his nephew Vladimir
Davydov (Bob) to his sister
Aleksandra |
| December |
December |
He visits
Nice with
Vladimir Shilovsky |
| 1872 |
February 5 |
February 17 |
Premiere of the revised
Romeo and Juliet in
Saint Petersburg has more success |
| February–March |
February–March |
He is commissioned to write a
Cantata for the Opening of the
Polytechnic Exposition in Moscow |
| April |
April |
He completes work on The
Oprichnik |
| May 31 |
June 12 |
Premiere of the Cantata
for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exposition in
Moscow |
| June–August |
June–August |
He spends the summer vacation at Kamenka,
Nizy and
Usovo,
where he sketches his Symphony
No. 2 |
| September |
September |
He starts regular work as the music critic of the newspaper Russian
Register |
|
|
Marriage of his brother
Nikolay to Olga Denisyeva |
| 1873 |
January 26 |
February 7 |
Premiere of the Symphony
No. 2 in Moscow |
| March–April |
March–April |
He writes music for Aleksandr
Ostrovsky's play The
Snow Maiden |
| May 11 |
May 23 |
Premiere of The Snow
Maiden in Moscow |
| June–August |
June–August |
He visits Nizy and
Kamenka, before travelling to Germany,
Switzerland, Italy and France |
| August–October |
August–October |
He works on his symphonic fantasia
The Tempest, suggested
by Vladimir Stasov |
| November 2 |
November 14 |
Suicide of Eduard Zak, which has a profound effect on Tchaikovsky |
| December 7 |
December 19 |
Premiere of The Tempest
in Moscow |
| 1874 |
March 10 |
March 22 |
Premiere of the String Quartet
No. 2 in Moscow |
| April |
April |
He travels to Italy, visiting
Venice,
Rome,
Naples and
Florence |
| April 12 |
April 24 |
Premiere of The Oprichnik
in Saint Petersburg |
| June–August |
June–August |
He writes the opera Vakula
the Smith while staying at Nizy
and
Usovo |
| November |
November |
He starts work on the Piano
Concerto No. 1 |
| December 24 |
1875 January 5 |
He plays through the Piano
Concerto No. 1 for Nikolay
Rubinstein, who is scathing in his verdict. Tchaikovsky refuses to
change a note |
| 1875 |
June–Augjust |
June–Augjust |
He writes his Symphony
No. 3 while staying at
Usovo,
Verbovka and
Nizy |
| August |
August |
He starts work on this first ballet,
Swan Lake |
| October 13 |
October 25 |
Hans von Bülow gives the premiere
of the Piano Concerto No. 1
in Boston, USA |
| November |
November |
He meets Camille Saint-Saëns
in Moscow |
| November 1 |
November 13 |
Russian premiere of the
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Saint
Petersburg by Gustav Kross, conducted by
Nikolay Rubinstein |
| November 7 |
November 19 |
Premiere of the Symphony
No. 3 in Moscow |
| December |
December |
He travels to France with his brother
Modest, and
Modest's deaf-mute pupil
Nikolay Konradi |
| 1876 |
January |
January |
He is greatly impressed by Bizet's
Carmen in
Paris |
| January 16 |
January 28 |
Premiere of the Sérénade
mélancolique in Moscow |
| March 18 |
March 30 |
Premiere of the String Quartet
No. 3 in Moscow |
| April |
April |
He completes work on Swan
Lake |
| April 24 |
May 6 |
Premiere of the Cantata
for the Jubilee of O. A. Petrov in
Saint Petersburg |
| July |
July |
He travels to
Vichy, France, for the
cure |
| August |
August |
He attends the premiere of Wagner's
Ring cycle in Bayreuth, where
he also meets Franz Liszt |
| September |
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 |
September |
He is commissioned to write the
Slavonic March in aid
of victims of the war between Serbia and Turkey |
| September– November |
September– November |
He writes the symphonic fantasia
Francesca da Rimini |
| November 4 |
November 16 |
Premiere of Vakula the
Smith in Saint Petersburg |
| November 5 |
November 17 |
Premiere of the Slavonic
March in Moscow |
| December |
December |
He meets Lev Tolstoy in
Moscow |
| December |
December |
He receives his first letter from
Nadezhda von Meck, and their solely
epistolary friendship begins |
| December |
December |
He writes the Variations
on a Rococo Theme for cello with orchestra |
| 1877 |
January |
January |
He strikes up a close friendship with the violinist
Iosif Kotek |
| February 13 |
February 25 |
He nervously conducts his
Slavonic March at the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow |
| February 25 |
March 9 |
Premiere of Francesca
da Rimini in Moscow |
| March–May |
March–May |
He makes sketches for his
Symphony No. 4 |
| March 26 |
April 7 |
Antonina Milyukova
writes her first letter to Tchaikovsky |
| May |
May |
He begins to write the opera
Yevgeny Onegin |
| May 20 |
June 1 |
He meets Antonina Milyukova
for the first time in Moscow |
| May 23 |
June 4 |
He proposes marriage to
Antonina Milyukova |
| July 6 |
July 18 |
He marries Antonina Milyukova
at Saint George's Church in Moscow |
| July 7–13 |
July 19–25 |
The couple spend their honeymoon in
Saint Petersburg |
| July 14 |
July 26 |
Tchaikovsky and his wife return to their new apartment in
Moscow |
| July 27 |
August 8 |
Tchaikovsky leaves by himself for Kamenka |
| September 12 |
September 24 |
Tchaikovsky returns to his wife in Moscow |
| September 24 |
October 6 |
End of his marriage to
Antonina |
| October |
October |
He travels to Switzerland with his brother
Anatoly, settling in
Clarens |
| October |
October |
Nadezhda von Meck offers him
a regular allowance, which gives him financial independence |
| December 18 |
December 30 |
Premiere of the Variations
on a Rococo Theme in Moscow by
Wilhelm Fitzenhagen |
| 1878 |
January |
January |
He travels to San Remo, where he
completes the Symphony No.
4 and Yevgeny Onegin |
| January 13 |
January 25 |
Death of his half-sister
Zinayda |
| February 10 |
February 22 |
Premiere of the Symphony
No. 4 |
| March |
March |
At
Clarens in Switzerland
with Iosif Kotek, he writes his
Violin Concerto |
| May |
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 memento of his stay, and the
Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom |
| August |
August |
He starts work on the Suite
No. 1 |
| September |
September |
He returns to the Moscow Conservatory
to resume teaching |
| November |
November |
He tenders his resignation from the Moscow
Conservatory on health grounds |
| December |
December |
He travels to Italy and settles in
Florence,
where he starts work on The
Maid of Orleans |
| December 8 |
December 20 |
Premiere of the Valse-scherzo
in
Paris by Stanislaw Barcewicz |
| 1879 |
March |
March |
He returns to Moscow |
| March 17 |
March 29 |
Premiere of Yevgeny Onegin
in Moscow |
| June |
June |
Premiere of the Liturgy
of Saint John Chrysostom in Kiev |
| June–August |
June–August |
He spends the summer at Kamenka
and Brailov, where he completes
The Maid of Orleans |
| October |
October |
While staying at Kamenka, he starts
work on the Piano Concerto
No. 2 |
| October 21 |
November 2 |
Premiere of the Grand Sonata
in Moscow by
Nikolay Rubinstein |
| November |
November |
He departs for France and Italy |
| December 8 |
December 20 |
Premiere of the Suite No.
1 in Moscow |
| December |
December |
While in
Rome, he revises the
Symphony No. 2 |
| 1880 |
January– February |
January– February |
In
Rome, he writes the
Italian Capriccio |
| January 9 |
January 21 |
Death of his father Ilya |
| March |
March |
He returns to Russia |
| April–November |
April–November |
He stays mostly at Kamenka and
Brailov |
| September– November |
September– November |
He writes the Serenade
for String Orchestra and the festival overture
The Year 1812 |
| autumn |
autumn |
Tchaikovsky is deeply upset when his servant
Aleksey Sofronov is conscripted
into the army |
| December 6 |
December 18 |
He returns to Moscow, and hears the
premiere of the Italian Capriccio |
| 1881 |
January– February |
January– February |
He visits Saint Petersburg |
| January 31 |
February 12 |
Premiere of the revised
Symphony No. 2 in
Saint Petersburg |
| February 13 |
February 25 |
Premiere of The Maid of
Orleans in Saint Petersburg |
| February 14 |
February 26 |
He departs for
Vienna,
Florence,
Rome and
Naples |
| March 11 |
March 23 |
While in
Nice, he hears of the
death of Nikolay Rubinstein
in
Paris |
| March 13 |
March 25 |
He attends Rubinstein's
funeral service in
Paris |
| April |
April |
He settles at Kamenka, with occasional
visits to Moscow |
| June |
June |
He starts work on the opera
Mazepa |
| October 18 |
October 30 |
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 |
November– December |
He visits
Vienna,
Venice,
Florence and
Rome |
| November 22 |
December 4 |
Premiere of the Violin
Concerto in
Vienna by
Adolph Brodsky |
| December |
December |
He sketches his Piano Trio
in memory of Nikolay Rubinstein |
| 1882 |
April |
April |
His brother Anatoly
marries Praskovya Konshina |
| May |
May |
He returns to Kamenka, with occasional
visits to Moscow |
| May 21 |
June 2 |
Russian premiere of the
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Moscow by
Sergey Taneyev |
| June 7 |
June 19 |
Premiere of the All-Night
Vigil in Moscow |
| August 8 |
August 20 |
Premiere of The Year
1812 at the Arts and Industry Exhibition in
Moscow |
| October 18 |
October 30 |
Premiere of the Piano Trio
in Moscow |
| 1883 |
January |
January |
He arrives in
Paris |
| February 19 |
March 3 |
Premiere of the revised
Symphony No. 1 in
Moscow |
| March |
March |
He is commissioned to write the
Coronation March and the
cantata Moscow for
the coronation of Emperor Alexander
III |
| May 15 |
May 27 |
Premiere of the coronation cantata
Moscow at the Kremlin
in Moscow |
| May 23 |
June 4 |
Premiere of the Coronation
March at the coronation of Alexander
III in Moscow |
| June–December |
June–December |
He visits Moscow,
Podushkino and
Kamenka, where he writes the
Suite No. 2 |
| December 31 |
1885 January 12 |
His niece Anna Davydova marries
Nadezhda von Meck's son
Nikolay |
| 1884 |
February 3 |
February 15 |
Premiere of Mazepa
in Moscow |
| February 4 |
February 16 |
Premiere of the Suite No.
2 in Moscow |
| February 6 |
February 18 |
He departs for
Paris |
| March 7 |
March 19 |
He is summoned to Saint Petersburg
for an audience with Alexander III,
who confers on him the Order of Saint Vladimir |
| April–September |
April–September |
He visits Kamenka,
Grankino and
Skabeyevo, where he writes the
Suite No. 3 and the
Concert Fantasia for piano
with orchestra |
| October 19 |
October 31 |
Saint Petersburg premiere
of Yevgeny Onegin at
the Mariinsky Theatre |
| November |
November |
He visits his dying friend Iosif
Kotek in Switzerland |
| December 16 |
December 28 |
Premiere of the Elegy
for String Orchestra in Moscow |
| 1885 |
January 12 |
January 24 |
Premiere of the Suite No.
3 in Saint Petersburg |
| February 14 |
February 16 |
He rents a house in the village of
Maydanovo,
near Klin |
| February 22 |
March 6 |
Premiere of the Concert
Fantasia in Moscow |
| February–March |
February–March |
He revises Vakula the Smith
as a new opera with the title
Cherevichki |
| April–September |
April–September |
At
Maydanovo, he writes
the symphony Manfred,
suggested by Mily Balakirev |
| September |
September |
He starts work on the opera
The Enchantress |
| December 5 |
December 17 |
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 |
March 23 |
He attends the premiere of
Manfred in
Moscow |
| March 31 |
April 12 |
He arrives in Tiflis to visit his
brother Anatoly |
| April 19 |
May 1 |
He hears the premiere of the revised
Romeo and Juliet in
Tiflis |
| April 29 |
May 10 |
He leaves Tiflis for
Paris, by way of the
Mediterranean Sea |
| May–June |
May–June |
He stays in
Paris, where he meets
Gabriel Fauré, Édouard Lalo,
Ambroise Thomas and
Pauline Viardot-García |
| June 19 |
July 1 |
He returns to
Maydanovo |
| 1887 |
January 19 |
January 31 |
He conducts the premiere of
Cherevichki at the Bolshoi
Theatre in Moscow |
| January 20 |
February 1 |
Death of his niece Tatyana
Davydova |
| March 5 |
March 17 |
He conducts the Saint Petersburg
premiere of the Suite No. 2 |
| May |
May |
He completes the opera
The Enchantress |
| May 21–28 |
June 2–9 |
He travels on a steam-boat down the River Volga from
Nizhny Novgorod to
Baku |
| June |
June |
He stays with his brother
Anatoly in
Tiflis, where he arranges and orchestrates
music by Mozart to form his
Suite No. 4 |
| July–August |
July–August |
He travels to Aachen to see his friend
Nikolay Kondratyev, who is
critically ill |
| October 20 |
November 1 |
He conducts the premiere of
The Enchantress at the
Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg |
| November 14 |
November 26 |
Premiere of the Suite No.
4 in Moscow, conducted by Tchaikovsky |
| December 12 |
December 24 |
Saint Petersburg premiere
of the Suite No. 4, conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| December 24 |
1888 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
Alexander III |
| January 8 |
January 20 |
He conducts at the Conventgarten in
Hamburg |
| January 16 |
January 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 |
Febuary–March |
He conducts three concerts in
Paris,
and meets Charles Gounod,
Léo Delibes,
Pauline Viardot-García,
and other French musicians |
| March 8 |
March 20 |
He conducts a concert at the Saint James's Hall in
London |
| March |
March |
He returns to Russia and visits brothers
Ippolit and
Anatoly in
Taganrog and
Tiflis |
| April 24 |
May 6 |
He settles in a new house at Frolovskoye,
near Klin |
| May–October |
May–October |
He writes the Symphony
No. 5 and the overture-fantasia
Hamlet |
| October |
October |
He is commissioned by Ivan
Vsevolozhsky to write the ballet
The Sleeping Beauty |
| November 5 |
November 17 |
Premiere of the Symphony
No. 5 in Saint Petersburg,
conducted by Tchaikovsky |
| November 12 |
November 24 |
Premiere of the overture-fantasia
Hamlet in
Saint Petersburg, conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| November–December |
November–December |
He visits
Prague to conduct the
Symphony No. 5 and
Yevgeny Onegin |
| December 10 |
December 22 |
Moscow premiere of the
Symphony No. 5, conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| December 10 |
December 22 |
He meets Anton Chekhov in
Saint Petersburg |
| 1889 |
January–March |
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).
Before travelling on to
London
he stays in
Paris (8/20 March-28
March/9 April), where he does not conduct any concerts but gets to meet
Jules Massenet and other French
musicians |
| April–May |
April–May |
He travels to Tiflis via the Mediterranean
Sea to visit his brother Anatoly |
| May 19 |
May 31 |
He returns home to Frolovskoye |
| August |
August |
He completes work on The
Sleeping Beauty |
| September 18 |
September 30 |
He conducts a new production of
Yevgeny Onegin at the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow |
| October–November |
October–November |
He conducts his own music, and works by
Mozart,
Glinka,
Taneyev and
Anton Rubinstein |
| November 25 |
December 7 |
Premiere of the Pezzo
capriccioso in Moscow with
Anatoly Brandukov, conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| 1890 |
January 3 |
January 15 |
Premiere of The Sleeping
Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre in
Saint Petersburg |
| January–March |
January–March |
He stays in
Florence, where he sketches
The Queen of Spades |
| April–September |
April–September |
He returns to Russia, staying mainly at
Frolovskoye, with occasional visits
to Moscow,
Lobynskoye,
Grankino,
Kamenka,
Kiev and Kharkov |
| June–July |
June–July |
He writes the string sextet
Souvenir de Florence |
| September 22 |
October 4 |
Nadezhda von Meck writes her
last letter to Tchaikovsky |
| September–October |
September–October |
He sketches the symphonic ballad
The Voyevoda |
| September–October |
September–October |
He visits Anatoly
in Tiflis |
| October 20 |
November 1 |
He conducts his own works at an RMS concert in
Tiflis |
| November 28 |
December 10 |
Premiere of Souvenir de
Florence in Saint Petersburg |
| December 7 |
December 19 |
Premiere of The Queen of
Spades in Saint Petersburg |
| 1891 |
January |
January |
At the request of his actor friend
Lucien Guitry, he writes incidental
music for Hamlet |
| February |
February |
He starts work on the ballet
The Nutcracker |
| February 9 |
February 21 |
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 |
April 10 |
Death of his sister Aleksandra |
| April 5–14 |
April 17–26 |
He crosses the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship La Bretagne |
| April 14 |
April 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 |
May 21 |
He leaves America bound for
Hamburg
on the Prince Bismarck |
| May 28 |
May 28 |
He returns to his former home at
Maydanovo |
| July–December |
July–December |
He works on the opera Iolanta |
| November 4 |
November 16 |
Moscow premiere of
The Queen of Spades |
| November 6 |
November 18 |
He conducts the premiere of the symphonic ballad
The Voyevoda, and then
attempts to destroy the score |
| December 21 |
1891 January 2 |
He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in
Kiev |
| 1892 |
January 2 |
January 14 |
He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in
Warsaw |
| January 7 |
January 19 |
He is impressed by a performance of
Yevgeny Onegin in
Hamburg conducted by
Gustav Mahler |
| February–March |
February–March |
He completes work on the ballet
The Nutcracker, from
which he compiles a suite |
| March 7 |
March 19 |
Premiere of the suite from
The Nutcracker in
Saint Petersburg conducted
by Tchaikovsky |
| April 29 |
May 10 |
He moves from
Maydanovo to his last
home at Klin |
| May |
May |
He begins sketches for a
Symphony in E♭ major |
| June |
June |
He visits
Vichy with his nephew
Vladimir Davydov |
| September–October |
September–October |
He travels to
Vienna,
Itter and
Prague |
| November |
November |
He abandons sketches for the
Symphony in E♭ major |
| November 24 |
December 6 |
Premiere of the revised sextet
Souvenir de Florence
in Saint Petersburg |
| December 18 |
December 30 |
Premieres of Iolanta
and The Nutcracker
at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint
Petersburg |
| December 20 |
1893 January 1 |
He visits Fanny Dürbach in
Montbeliard, Switzerland |
| 1893 |
January 14 |
January 14 |
He conducts an all-Tchaikovsky concert in
Brussels |
| January 12 |
January 24 |
He arrives in Odessa to conduct a
series of concerts of his own works, and to have his portrait painted
by Nikolay Kuznetsov |
| January 25 |
February 6 |
He leaves Odessa for
Kamenka and
Kharkov |
| February 3 |
February 15 |
He returns to Klin, where he starts
to sketch the Symphony No.
6 |
| March 11 |
March 23 |
He arrives in Kharkov to conduct
concerts of his own works |
| March 18 |
March 30 |
He returns to Klin and resumes work
on the Symphony No. 6 |
| May 13 |
May 25 |
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 |
| June 1 |
June 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 |
July 30 |
He returns home to Klin, where he begins
converting the abandoned Symphony
in E♭ major into the
Piano Concerto No. 3 |
| August |
August |
He travels to
Hamburg for a production
of Iolanta |
| October 9 |
October 21 |
Premiere of the vocal quartet
Night in
Moscow, in the presence of the composer |
| October 10 |
October 22 |
He arrives in Saint Petersburg
to stay at his brother Modest's
apartment on Malaya Morskaya |
| October 16 |
October 28 |
He conducts the premiere of the
Symphony No. 6 in
Saint Petersburg |
| October 20 |
November 1 |
He dines out at Leiner's restaurant with friends |
| October 21 |
November 2 |
He complains of stomach pains, and a doctor is called, who diagnoses
cholera |
| October 22 |
November 3 |
Treatment begins, and he feels better |
| October 22–23 |
November 3–4 |
His condition gradually deteriorates |
| October 25 |
November 6 |
Tchaikovsky dies around 3 a.m. from complications arising from the
cholera (uræmia and œdema of lungs) |
| October 26–27 |
November 7–8 |
Requiem services and tributes are held throughout Russia |
| October 28 |
November 9 |
His funeral takes place in the Kazan Cathedral in
Saint Petersburg. He is buried
in Tikhvinsky Cemetery at the Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery |