Introduction A sensitive child School and Music A musical career Life in Moscow A creative period Nadezhda von Meck Marriage Emotional problems Later Years -------------------- Conclusion Famous Pieces - Home - Sign Guestbook

Distressed by the difficulties he was having with the Symphony, he was surprised one day to receive a love-letter from a woman he did not know, Antonia Ivanovna Milyukiva, who claimed to be an admirer of his music. Tchaikovsky soon agreed to meet her, partly because she threatened suicide if he refused. Before he knew what was happening, he had thoughtlessly proposed to her and been accepted.

The marriage, which began in July 1877, was a disaster. Not only did Antonia not love Tchaikovsky, she totally hated him. Tchaikovsky was devastated when he worked this out and so he fled to the Caucasus. When he returned, Nikolay Rubenstein came to inform her that he was a mental and physical wreck, and an immediate divorce was necessary.

The divorce, only permissible on the grounds of adultery, was finally granted in 1881, when the first child - not the composer's - was born, but Tchaikovsky was to fear public exposure of his homosexuality by Antonia for the rest of his life.