Peter Ilich (Piotr Ilyitch) Tchaikovsky, is the glory of Russian Nation as Igor Stravinsky[1] has mentioned. And his music is one of the fundamental elements of Russian culture as Shostakovich[2] has said.

Peter Ilich was born on May seventh, 1840 in Votkinsk, in the western Ural area of Russia. None of his parents were familiar with music and so they didn’t recognize their son’s talent. Beside his regular educations, he taught playing the piano. His parents wanted him to become a judge, and so from 1859 to 1863 he worked in Justice System. In 1863, in his 23, he left the job and learned Composition from Anton Rubinstein[3]. In 1866 he finished his educations and Nicolai Rubinstein, Anton’s brother, proposed him with teaching Harmony in Moscow Conservatory. After this, Tchaikovsky’s golden era started. He met Balakirev[4] and Rimsky Korsakov[5], and Nationalism of these two influenced him deeply but not persistently.

Between 1868 and 1875 he wrote symphonies no.2 and no.3, four Operas, Romeo and Juliet Overture, his first piano concerto and a chamber music. But then he lost his nerve, having insomnia, unreasonable and sudden fears and depression crises. From this time, he lived a lifetime with panic. Also he was afraid of his homosexual desires and was trying to hide them. In 1877 he married one his pupils who had fall in love with him. He had written to one of his friends that he was worried for the girl and had done this because of her. Also he was going to escape his fears of homosexuality. But he couldn’t stand it and escaped after two months! This, together with unpopularity of his works, influenced his mental and emotional health severely. This was the time for him to find his Guardian Angel, Madame Van Mack. A woman whom Debussy[6] lived in her house from 1880 to 1882. This forty five years of old widow, rich and clever, could expertly play the role of some one Tchaikovsky could reveal his secrets to and also she solved his monetary worries. So Tchaikovsky could easily devote all his time to music. Their relation was just through writing mails and they had agreed not to see each other. This strange friendship lasted for thirteen years. But in 1890, Madame Van Mack ended the relation with the illogical reason of bankruptcy. Though Tchaikovsky wrote his objection, he never took a response. From 1887 afterwards, he conducted his works all around the Europe. Loosing of his Guardian Angel induced him to accept a trip to America. This was a successful journey, yet not even this, and not even final popularity of his works could not cure his melancholia. Working on his sixth symphony which he, himself, believed was his most important work made him forget his worries for a while. The first performance of the work, given at St. Petersburg under the composer’s direction, was indifferently received. Tchaikovsky died nine days later.

On this post I’ve chosen last movement of his first piano concerto.
The tale behind this concerto and its rejection by the original dedicatee, Nikolai Rubinstein, is one of the most famous in music history. Tchaikovsky had begun to achieve some notoriety and success, and in late 1874 he decided to try his luck at the form that Mozart and Beethoven had used to display their own talents so well. He seemed to have difficulty, writing that he had to “hammer passages… out of my brain” and “walk up and down the room for hours” before ideas came. But the work was soon finished in preliminary form, and in early January of 1875, he asked Rubinstein to listen as he played through it at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The intended soloist was not pleased. Three years later, Tchaikovsky described the other man’s reaction:
“Not one word was said–absolute silence… I got up from the piano. ‘Well?’ I said. Then a torrent burst from Rubinstein… My concerto was worthless and unplayable… bad, trivial, vulgar. Only one or two pages had any value.”
He described the feeling as if he had a child and spent so many years to educate him well and then some one had killed him.
Eventually, Rubinstein said that he would play the concerto if Tchaikovsky would change it to meet his specifications. But the composer replied, “I shan’t alter a note. I shall publish it as it stands.” In anger, he crossed Rubinstein’s name off the title page and re-dedicated the work to Hans von Bülow[7], who had recently discovered Tchaikovsky’s work. Von Bülow suffered from none of Rubinstein’s reservations, instead calling the work “lofty, strong, and original.” Since he was planning an American tour in the fall of 1875, he offered to learn the concerto for that trip. The first performance took place in Boston, followed shortly by one in New York. In both cities the work was tremendously popular with the audiences, who demanded a repeat of the Finale, although the critics were less enthusiastic. But as is frequently the case, the music won the battle against the naysayer, and even Rubinstein eventually admitted his error, learned the concerto, and performed it many times. The work is still among the most favorites of the form.
Though it’s mostly famous for its’ first movement, I’ve chosen the third movement, Allegro con fuoco (with animation and fire), a vigorous, skipping Ukrainian dance on the piano inviting a stomping orchestral response, leaving a dizzy soloist to be gently stabilized by the strings’ graceful counter-subject.
Although these materials are continually varied, a classical rondo pattern, ABABA, is unmistakable. The skipping dance’s third appearance sees the stomping response sidestepped for a huge, expectant crescendo, climaxing with the counter-subject blared lustily by the two comrades-in-arms. Thence to an exuberant coda on the main subject, as is of course perfectly proper in any concerto of serious formal consideration.
Here from, you can download Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in B-flat minor, opus 23, movement 3, Allegro con fuoco performed by Evgeny Kissin as soloist with Herbert von Karajan conducting Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This performance, in 1988, is particular in this way that Kissin, 17 at that time, was on the first years of his carrier and Karajan, died in 1989, was on his last.

[1]: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971): Russian-born composer. He is considered one of the most innovative composers of the 20th century. Among his works are ballets like Petrushka and the Rite of Spring, symphonies like Psalm, and Operas such as Rake’s progress.
[2]: Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Russian composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the 20th century, he is particularly known for his 15 symphonies and also wrote chamber music, concertos, operas, and ballets.
[3]: Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829-1894): Russian pianist and composer who founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1862). His compositions include chamber music, operas, and six symphonies.
[4]: Mily Alekseyevich Balakirev (1837-1910): Russian composer whose works combine romanticism with folk music. The symphonic poems Tamara and Russia are among his best-known compositions.
[5]: Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), Russian composer and musical theorist, one of the greatest composers of the Russian nationalist school. Rimsky-Korsakov is remembered today more for the brilliance of his instrumentation than for the originality of his musical ideas. His influence as an orchestrator was exercised directly on his pupils, notably Russian composers Igor Stravinsky and Aleksandr Glazunov.
[6]: Claude Achille Debussy(1862-1918): French composer who is considered the first exponent of musical impressionism. Modern music starts with one his works, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune.
[7]: Hans Guido von Bülow (1830-1894): German pianist and conductor considered to be the first modern virtuoso conductor. He was instrumental in popularizing the works of Brahms and Wagner.