Tchaikovsky’s Life and Music

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia. His father was Ilya Petrovich and his mother was Alexandra Andreyevna. As a child, Tchaikovsky was called Petya, and he was very emotionally sensitive. His housekeeper called him a “child of glass,” and when Petya was sent off to boarding school, the experience of being left behind by his mother scarred him emotionally.