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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

Tchaikovsky entered music late, studying law and working as a civil servant before enrolling in the St Petersburg Conservatory at twenty-one. Three years later, he committed fully to composition.

His emotional directness distinguished him from both Russian and European contemporaries. The three great ballets - Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker - elevated ballet music to serious art. Nine days after premiering the Pathétique Symphony in 1893, he died under circumstances that remain debated. The music endures without question.

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