Excellent and fascinating column, Dex. My heart goes out across the centuries to poor Tchaikovsky, not only for the tragedy of his death, but for the suffering of his life. Stories such as his make me wish for an afterlife, so that he could find there the peace, joy, and acceptance that he so richly deserved, yet never found in life.
I’ll lift a glass in his honor tonight.
I also enjoyed this piece and my heart goes out not only to him but to others then and now who feel in the same predicament because of the narrowmindedness of others. The world is a poorer place because of it.
Interesting piece. I came across the story a few years ago, but was a bit suspicious – the idea of an honor court seemed too much like an urban legend. Interesting to see it has been confirmed.
Well done. Tchaikovsky’s one of my favorite composers - The Nutcracker, The 1812 Overture and his Fifth Symphony are all brilliant. Would that he could have found some measure of happiness in his lifetime, and known how much his works would enrich millions of lives in later years. Poor guy.
Wow! What a stunning report. Brilliant as always Dex. Thank you.
I’ve loved Tchaikovsky’s work for decades now but never thought to look into his live and death. This part never came up in any of the brief bios that are part of the programs that they had out at performances of The Nutcracker. What a poor tortured soul (his wife too) and an example of how horrible people can be to each other.
I’m sorry to say that this report by Dex makes some unsupported assertions, and ignores what most scholars take to be the definitive study on Tchaikovsky’s death. That study is by Alexander Poznansky: Tchaikovsky’s Last Days: A Documentary Study (Oxford University Press, 1996). (See also Poznansky’s biography of Tchaikovsky that came out a year or two before.) He argues convincingly (imo) against the case Orlova makes for an “honor court”. Moreover, he dug up all manner of documents that Orlova didn’t see. His basic conclusion is that there was no guilt over homosexuality, no “honor court” - just an unfortunate death from cholera. (But it’s a complicated circumstance, and my summary doesn’t do justice to Poznansky’s argument.)
As someone in the business, I would dispute Dex’s statement that “Orlova’s version is pretty well verified. There is still a minority of scholars who dispute it (ah, academe!), but most agree that the evidence is fairly clear.” And neither Nice nor Greenberg should have featured as primary references here: Greenberg is a great teacher, but doesn’t do much by way of original research, and Nice is more of a music journalist than a researcher.
“In 1869, he fell deeply in love with Eduard Zak, a 15-year old student. (Throughout his life, Tchaikovsky’s lovers tended to be around this age.)”
Perhaps Tchaikovsky might have escaped the fatal odium shown to his homosexuality if he lived nowadays, but the above suggests he might well have run into problems with statutory rape laws. Would he have had any better chance of a thriving, continuing career if he were a convicted sex offender?
Not an answer to the question but a fact which might be of interest - one much earlier composer widely recognised today, Nicolas Gombert, survived a conviction for molesting a child.
Hmm. That work didn’t come up in my research, and I’m currently out of the country with essentially no internet connection. I’ll do some further digging when I’m back and see what’s what, but my impression was that the cholera was pretty much a no-go for purely medical reasons.
Yes, agreed that Greenberg and Nice aren’t researchers, but they are far more interesting as information sources for someone looking to “learn more.”
The article on Tchaikovsky is poignant.
I suppose that it’s even possible that he drank tainted water as a means of taking his on life. I suppose the specific cause of his death will remain a matter of speculation.
At present there is also still disagreement about the link between creativity and depression. There is support for the idea that bi-polar depressives still retain their creative natures even when they are on their medications. Bi-polar disorder and some forms of creativity may share some genes that initiate the predisposition.
I found the description of Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns dancing in drag to be a little bit of comic relief. Thank heavens for those who keep dancing in spite of it all.
I don’t have the Poznansky at hand, and it is possible that I misconstrued his argument about the actual cause of death. But I am certain about the case he made against the “honor court” and any notion that sexual guilt contributed to T’s death.
I seem to recall that there was some press [NY Times?] coverage of Poznansky’s work when it first appeared; it might be useful to track that down as well when you’re back in the country.