Sunday, November 9, 2014

COMPOSER REPORT TCHAIKOVSKY


COMPOSER PROFILE REPORT
COMPOSER'S LAST NAME:
TCHAIKOVSKY

COMPOSER'S FIRST NAME:
PETER ILLYICH

COUNTRY OF ORGIN:
RUSSIA
Map of Russia in 1893
the year Tchaikovsky died.
(Russia is the pea green color)

Map of Russia in 2012
COMPOSER’S DATES: 
1840-1893 


NAME 5 FAMOUS COMPOSITIONS
WRITTEN BY THIS COMPOSER:
1. Swan Lake Ballet, 1877
WERE ALSO ALIVE DURING THIS
COMPOSER'S LIFETIME:
LITERATURE:
Stevenson, Robert Lewis
(1850-1894)
Treasure Island, 1883

Carroll, Lewis
AKA Charles L. Dodgson
(1832-1898) 
Alice in Wonderland, 1865
Alcott, Louisa May
(1832-1888) 
Little Women, 1872 

MUSIC:

(England)
Librettist: W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
Composer: Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)


Dvorak, Antonin
(Czechoslovakia)
1841-1904

Brahms, Johannes
(Germany)
1833-1897 

HISTORY:
Custer, George Armstrong
(1839-1876)
Charles Marion Russell: The Custer Fight, 1903
Civil War, 1861-1865 
Currier and Ives: Union Counter-Attack at The Angle, Third Day, Gettysburg, 1863
Transcontinental Railroad,
Completed 1869 
The transcontinental railroad was ceremonially completed on May 10, 1869 
at the famous "golden spike" event at Promontory Summit, Utah.

ART:
Bierstadt, Albert
(1830-1902)
Bierstadt: Yosemite Valley, 1866
Degas, Edgar
(1834-1917) 
Degas: Self-Portrait
Degas: Dance Class at the Opéra, 1872
NAME SOME FAMOUS HISTORICAL,
SCIENTIFIC, AND OR LITERARY
HAPPENINGS THAT TOOK PLACE
DURING THIS COMPOSER’S LIFETIME: 
first photography patent
First American patent issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for his camera.


Roller Skate, 1863 

Patented by
James L. Plimpton

(Rather than affixing the wheels directly
to the plate of the skate, Plimpton designed
his skate like a wagon wheel so that it could
move independently of the plate itself.  This
allowed the skate to "rock" and, therefore, turn
more easily than its predecessors; that is why it
was sometimes referred to as a "rocking skate.")

Cincinnati Red Stockings
First Baseball Team, 1869

Elisha Graves Otis
(1811-1861)

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU THINK THIS
COMPOSER’S OVERALL
COMPOSITIONAL STYLE IS AND WHAT
IS DISTINCTIVE ABOUT IT.

Tchaikovsky's music is considered emotional and because of that it
is given the musical term "romantic."  He wrote some of the most
beautiful and famous melodies in all music, notable for their
immense elegance and gracefulness.

Much of his music is based on famous literature:
"The Sleeping Beauty"
(fairytale by Charles Perrault 1628-1703),

"The Nutcracker"
(story by E.T.A. Hoffman 1776-1822), 

and 
"Romeo and Juliet"
(play by William Shakespeare 1564-1616

to name a few.

One of Tchaikovsky's major specialties was writing for the ballet.
Edgar Degas: Ballet Scene III

To the Russian people his music style is considered a national symbol.


WRITE YOUR PERSONAL OPINION

ABOUT THE MUSICAL STYLE

OF THIS COMPOSER AND EXPLAIN.

Write one or 2 sentences explaining your opinion on 
what you like and/or dislike about this composer's music style.

IF POSSIBLE, CAN YOU LIST ANY
INTERNET WEB ADDRESSES
ABOUT THIS COMPOSER?
SEE BLOG PAGE ON THIS SITE ABOUT TCHAIKOVSKY LINKS 

MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS:
By the end of his life Tchaikovsky left behind 7
symphonies, 8 operas, 3 ballets,

 and much chamber music.

It was said that he died of food poisioning but others say
he was forced to commit suicide by the Russian government
after offending some top officials by his behavior.
Who killed Tchaikovsky?
BBC DOCUMENTARY

Tchaikovsky in America
Tchaikovsky came to America (New York City) for 
the opening night of Carnegie Hall.

TCHAIKOVSKY WORK SHEETS: 

TCHAIKOVSKY VIDEO BIOGRAPHIES


STORIES
OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS:
TCHAIKOVSKY
(Disneyland Records, 1961)

PETER TCHAIKOVSKY STORY
By Disney
1/2
Subtitled in Spanish
Documentary 2/2

THE MUSIC LOVERS, 1970
(Excerpt: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto)

GREAT COMPOSERS:
"TCHAIKOVSKY"

BBC: GREAT COMPOSERS
TCHAIKOVSKY

BBC DOCUMENTARY
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 1-7
PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s&index=1
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 2-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LiU6XHUTo&list=
PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s&index=2
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 3-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q7Madd7Tm0&index=
3&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 4-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhITFAqNcBE&index=
4&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 5-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N04TduvgUxs&index=
5&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 6-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Q4vSBUwh8&list=
PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s&index=6
Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Creation of Genius 7-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPPx8qY8BgE&index=
7&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s

Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(1of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P7PFUcF1DI&index=
8&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(2of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDrIX9qflcs&index=
9&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(3of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa27trNQaOU&index=
10&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(4of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12SVSRAS4Ns&index=
11&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(5of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJOotHnEWgc&index=
12&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(6of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmecWB7Vgik&index=
13&list=PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s
Discovering.Tchaikovsky.2of2.Fortune.and.Tragedy(7of7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ns2ZBHwxis&list=
PLZmuEv7ioQH3xD7mY-MF5mNy-yER5QB0s&index=14

Child of Glass
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Excerpt from the concert entitled, "Child of Glass," by the Pacific Symphony of Orange County,
California. This was a subscription concert "Tchaikovsky Portrait" series presented in January, 2010
of the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky with an actor, narrator, and visuals. It was written by Joseph
Horowitz, with visuals by Peter Bogdanoff, and the voices of Nick Ullett and Alan Chapman.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

TCHAIKOVSKY QUOTES and LINKS


"There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses
have sometimes worked without inspiration.
This guest (inspiration) does not always respond to the first invitation.
We must always work,
and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands
on the pretext that he is not in the mood.
If we wait for the mood, without endeavoring to meet it half-way,
we easily become indolent and apathetic.
We must be patient,
and believe that inspiration will come
to those who can master their disinclination."


"Inspiration is a guest that does not
willingly visit the lazy."


"If that condition of mind and soul
which we call inspiration
lasted long without intermission,
no artist could survive it.
The strings would break
and the instrument be shattered into fragments."


"I sit down to the piano regularly
at nine-o'clock in the morning
and Mesdames les Muses
have learned to be on time for that rendezvous."


"What I have set down in a moment of ardor
I must then critically examine.
Sometimes I must do myself violence
before I can mercilessly erase things thought out with love."


"It is already a great thing
if the main ideas and general outline of a work come
without any racking of brains,
as the result of that supernatural and inexplicable force
we call inspiration."


"Even in the works of the greatest master,
the organic sequence can fail
and then a skillful join must be made."


"The creative process is like music which takes root
with extraordinary force and rapidity."


"To regret the past, to hope in the future,
and never to be satisfied with the present:
that is what I spend my whole life doing."


To his nephew (9 February 1893)
Just prior to composing the Pathetique Symphony:
"What I need is to believe in myself again;
for my faith has been greatly undermined;
it seems to me my role is over."


To his brother,
after composing the Pathetique Symphony (No. 6):
"I feel I shall live a long time."


"You see, my dear friend,
I am made up of contradictions,
and I have reached a very mature age
without resting upon anything positive,
without having calmed my restless spirit
either by religion or philosophy.
Undoubtedly I should have gone mad but for music.
Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven's gifts