Lake View East in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Legacy Walk
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021
1. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Marker
Inscription.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The Legacy Walk.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Gay Russian Classical Composer (1840 – 1893), . Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was raised in a society that offered no public music education. In spite of his aptitude for music, his parents sent him to a boarding school to be trained for civil service employment. After graduation, he pursued studies in musical composition at Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where the formal, western-oriented training he received set him apart from other contemporary young Russian composers. After graduating in 1865, he was invited to teach composition at the newly established conservatoire in Moscow. There he came under the scrutiny of "the five” - a group, led by Mily Balakirev, who championed a Russian-centric style of composition. It was Balakirev who suggested that Tchaikovsky compose an overture based on the love story of Romeo and Juliet. Drawing upon his own tragic love for one of his male students who had committed suicide, he produced what would become his first recognized masterpiece: Romeo and Juliet (1869). This complicated sequence of emotional connections and musical creations would repeat itself numerous times throughout his life to produce such immortal classics as Swan Lake (1876); the Nutcracker (1892); the 1812 Overture (1880); Sleeping Beauty (1889); and ten operas including Eugene Onegin. Tchaikovsky's glorious achievements, which made him famous in both Russia and America, were honored by Tsar Alexander III, who awarded him a lifetime pension in 1885 in spite of the rumors that persisted after the failure of his brief marriage in 1877. The enigma and torment behind his genius would deepen when, nine days afier conducting his final creation - the Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, the great composer was found dead at the age of 53. Suicide was asserted by the authorities; but historians have since rejected this assumption leaving the circumstances of his death shrouded in mystery. Today Russia refuses to acknowledge Tchaikovsky's homosexuality in spite of the fact that his own writings reveal he lived in constant fear of his great secret being discovered. In the end - even though his work was often dismissed by critics in his own time as "too Russian for great Western music and not Russian enough for Russia" – Tchaikovsky's symphonies are played more often than those of any other classical composer. His world-wide recognition has few rivals.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was raised in a society that offered no public music
education. In spite of his aptitude for music, his parents sent him to a boarding school
to be trained for civil service employment. After graduation, he pursued studies in
musical composition at Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where the formal,
western-oriented training he received set him apart from other contemporary
young Russian composers. After graduating in 1865, he was invited to teach
composition at the newly established conservatoire in Moscow. There he came under
the scrutiny of "the five” - a group, led by Mily Balakirev, who championed a
Russian-centric style of composition. It was Balakirev who suggested that
Tchaikovsky compose an overture based on the love story of Romeo and Juliet.
Drawing upon his own tragic love for one of his male students who had committed
suicide, he produced what would become his first recognized masterpiece: Romeo and
Juliet (1869). This complicated sequence of emotional connections and musical
creations would repeat itself numerous times throughout his life to produce such
immortal classics as Swan Lake (1876); the Nutcracker (1892); the 1812 Overture
(1880); Sleeping
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Beauty (1889); and ten operas including Eugene Onegin. Tchaikovsky's
glorious achievements, which made him famous in both Russia and America, were
honored by Tsar Alexander III, who awarded him a lifetime pension in 1885 in spite of
the rumors that persisted after the failure of his brief marriage in 1877. The enigma
and torment behind his genius would deepen when, nine days afier conducting his
final creation - the Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, the great composer was found dead
at the age of 53. Suicide was asserted by the authorities; but historians have since
rejected this assumption leaving the circumstances of his death shrouded in
mystery. Today Russia refuses to acknowledge Tchaikovsky's homosexuality in spite
of the fact that his own writings reveal he lived in constant fear of his great secret
being discovered. In the end - even though his work was often dismissed by critics in
his own time as "too Russian for great Western music and not Russian enough for
Russia" – Tchaikovsky's symphonies are played more often than those
of any other classical composer. His world-wide recognition has few rivals.
Erected 2018 by The Legacy Walk.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the The Legacy Walk series list.
Location.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021
2. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Marker - wide view
The Tchaikovsky marker is visible here mounted to a pylon (shared with the Cole Porter marker) on the east side of North Halsted Street.
41° 56.542′ N, 87° 38.955′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Lake View East. Marker is on North Halsted Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3311 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL 60657, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Cole Porter (here, next to this marker); Dr. Sally K. Ride (a few steps from this marker); Bayard Rustin (a few steps from this marker); Reinaldo Arenas (within shouting distance of this marker); Alan Mathison Turing (within shouting distance of this marker); Walt Whitman (within shouting distance of this marker); Keith Haring (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Sylvester (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 31, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 136 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on August 31, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
