A quote from his adult letters sums up his life: "I have very low moments but an insatiable thirst for work consoles me. He mourned throughout his life for his mother who had died during his early teens, and he suffered from chronic depression and physical ailments. A contributory factor was suppressed homosexuality and the disastrous consequences for a musical career if this were revealed. Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and periods of depression. He thus became a musical loner who refused to join a strong movement promoting Russian nationalism. Having been educated in traditional European forms it was musically comfortable for him to compose in the styles of Italian opera, French Ballet, and German music. With the financial support of a wealthy patron in 1877, the budding composer resigned his teaching post to devote himself exclusively to the western-style music encouraged by his Conservatory training. Petersburg in 1866 and was immediately recommended for a job teaching harmony at the Conservatory of Moscow. By age 23 the government clerk was obsessed by a powerful interest in creating music. As a child he had picked up a smattering of musical knowledge but was never thought to possess any special musical talent no trace of musicianship existed in his family. Son of a prosperous government official in a Russian province, Tchaikovsky was steered by his family to a legal career in government.
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