Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Lore & Background

Biographer Alexander Poznansky writes that on 1 November 1893 [O.S. 20 October] (Wednesday) Tchaikovsky had gone to a theatre to see Alexander Ostrovsky's play The Ardent Heart. Afterwards, he went with his brother Modest, his nephew Vladimir Davydov, the composer Alexander Glazunov, and other friends to a restaurant named Leiner's, located in Kotomin House at Nevsky Prospekt, Saint Petersburg. During the meal, Tchaikovsky ordered a glass of water. Due to an outbreak of cholera in the city at the time, health regulations required restaurants to boil before serving it. The waiter told Tchaikovsky that no boiled water was currently available, so he instead requested cold unboiled water, which was brought. The others in his party warned him not to drink it, but the composer said he was not afraid of contracting cholera and drank it anyway. The next morning, at Modest's apartment, Pyotr was not in the sitting room drinking tea as usual, but in bed complaining of diarrhea and an upset stomach. Modest asked about calling a doctor. Tchaikovsky refused, instead taking cod liver oil to no avail. Three days later, he developed signs of cholera. His condition worsened, but he still refused to see a doctor. A doctor was finally sent for but was not home, so another one was called. The diagnosis of cholera was finally made by Dr. Lev Bertenson. In the meantime, Tchaikovsky would seem to improve but then would regress and get much worse. His kidneys began to fail. A priest was called from St. Isaac's Cathedral to administer last rites, but the composer was too far gone to recognise what was going on around him. He died at 3 a.m. on 6 November 1893.

Reader's Guide

Tchaikovsky biographer David Brown argues that, even before the doctors' accounts on the composer's death had appeared, what happened at his brother Modest's flat had been totally inconsistent with standard procedures for a death from cholera. Regulations stipulated the corpse was to be removed from the scene of death immediately in a closed coffin. Instead, Tchaikovsky's body was displayed in Modest's flat, and the flat freely opened to visitors wishing to pay their last respects. Among the guests, composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was seemingly bewildered by what he saw: 'How strange that, although death had resulted from cholera, still admission to the Mass for the dead was free to all! I remember how [Alexander] Verzhbilovich [a cellist and professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory], totally drunk [...] kept kissing the deceased man's head and face.' This passage was edited out of some later versions of Rimsky-Korsakov's book. Poznansky counters Brown's views by saying that, despite Rimsky-Korsakov's comment, there was nothing odd about what went on. He writes that, despite lingering prejudice, the prevailing medical opinion was that cholera was less contagious than previously supposed. Though public gatherings for cholera victims had previously been discouraged, the Central Medical Council in the spring of 1893 specifically allowed public services and rituals in connection with the funerals of cholera victims. Also, the medical opinion printed by the Petersburg Gazette stated that Tchaikovsky had died from a subsequent blood infection, not from the disease itself, cholera having reportedly been arrested on Friday, 3 November—three days before the composer's death. Alexander III volunteered to pay the costs of the composer's funeral himself and instructed the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres to organise the event. Moreover, Alexander III gave special permission for Tchaikovsky's memorial service to be held at Kazan Cathedral. Tchaikovsky's funeral took place on 9 November 1893 in St. Petersburg. Kazan Cathedral holds 6,000 people, but 60,000 people applied for tickets to attend the service. Finally, 8,000 people were crammed in. The composer was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, near the graves of fellow-composers Alexander Borodin, Mikhail Glinka and Modest Mussorgsky; eventually Rimsky-Korsakov and Mily Balakirev would be buried nearby, as well.

Did You Know?

• Tchaikovsky died nine days after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique.
• The official cause of death was cholera, reportedly contracted by drinking unboiled water at Leiner's restaurant on Nevsky Prospekt.
• Composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov noted in his autobiography that a drunken cellist kept kissing the deceased's face—a passage later censored in some editions.
• Alexander III personally paid for Tchaikovsky's funeral and allowed his memorial service at Kazan Cathedral, where 8,000 people attended despite a 6,000-person capacity.
• The cholera epidemic that claimed Tchaikovsky's life began on 14 May 1892 and ended on 11 February 1896, with 504,924 people contracting the disease and 226,940 dying from it.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

Some people believe Tchaikovsky’s death was immediately and universally accepted as cholera. In fact, even at the time there were many questions about the diagnosis, including the timeline and how he could have obtained unboiled water at a reputable restaurant during strict health regulations. Others assume the stigma of cholera was minimal, but the disease was considered one of the lower classes, making its possibility inconceivable for many in his social circle. Additionally, the story that Tchaikovsky defiantly drank unboiled water in front of friends is accurate per the lore on record, but some may wrongly think he ignored all health precautions out of ignorance—he was explicitly warned by others at the table and chose to drink it anyway.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

Tchaikovsky’s death endures as a cultural puzzle because it intertwines genius with sudden, scandalous tragedy, raising questions about how a society’s class prejudices can shape the memory of an artist. The mysteries surrounding his final days—whether from cholera or other causes—continue to invite speculation, reflecting our enduring need to find meaning in the abrupt end of a creative life that produced some of the most beloved music in history.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"What I need is to believe in myself again— for my faith has been greatly undermined; it seems to me my role is over." — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky "I played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard! It annoys me that this self-inflated mediocrity is hailed as a genius." — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky "Diary entry for October 9, 1886, quoted in Nicolas Slonimsky, Lexicon of Musical Invective (1953), p. 73." — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky "After the last notes of Gotterdammerung I felt as though I had been let out of prison." — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky