Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique"

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Tchaikovsky, along with Dostoyevsky are Russia's two undisputed artistic champions, by which I mean they have international renown.  It's almost certain that you will recognize this piece.  Three things about it stand out.

First, Tchaikovsky died nine days after the first performance, which he conducted himself in 1893.  The Czar himself had thrust Tchaikovsky into prominence in Russia, insisting that Tchaikovsky's new play Eugene Onegin to be staged at the Bolshoi, replacing Italian Opera with native Russian.  Tchaikovsky's reputation was enormous both inside and outside of Russia.

Second, Tchaikovsky was a year younger than I am now at his death - 53 is too short a performance for such a talent as his.  Rumors persist to this day about whether it was his "broad" sexual taste that caused him to run afoul of a noble family which would brook no deviance, but there is no doubt that Pyotr Ilyich went from the flush of health to stone cold dead in the space of a week and a half.

Third, today is the 119th anniversary of that premiere performance of that symphony.  Tchaikovsky wrote so many famous works - Romeo and Juliet, the 1812 Overture, the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Marche Slav - and this is instantly recognizable as one of his greats.  You wonder what the world missed from his composition career struck down in its prime.