TEDxSalford

Tchaikovsky and Human Rights

Equal rights is a tough and long fought over issue in many countries, however, none of them are as public at the moment than the problems facing Russia’s LGBT community at the hands of the Russian government. Although many countries like the UK, France, Canada and the US push forward in LGBT rights all the time, many others are disgustingly backwards in their treatment of the gay and transgender community. The widespread bigotry and narrow-mindedness shown by the Russian government in their increasingly abhorrent laws and restrictions are unfortunately still present in many countries, some places still holding the death penalty for anyone found to be LGBT.

 

One of the curious and baffling laws that has been imposed on the Russian people is that it is illegal to promote ‘gay propaganda’ in any form. It is horrific that any country that considers itself modern can get away with such a draconian and frankly dangerous ruling. The Russian government are repressing their own people in full view of countries such as ours who have ties to Russia but also should not tolerate such a disregard of human rights.

 

Putin himself has been unsurprisingly vague when asked about the particular laws, specifically when questions come from international sources, allowing other ministers to do the speaking for him.

 

The Russian Federation claim that the laws were passed to protect its citizens though this is clearly not true as the laws are damaging on a wide scale and, amongst other things, promote bullying and violence towards people who identify as LGBT.

 

On that note, I feel that if the LGBT community in Russia cannot celebrate themselves then we should help them do it. Russia’s vast and expansive history holds many amazing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people who deserved to be praised as equally as those who identify as straight and not have to hide anything about themselves as individuals. And the first of these wonderful individuals that I would like to celebrate is a man who created incredible pieces of music that are loved around the globe more than a hundred years after their creation.

 

 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer is celebrated throughout the world for his blend of Western classical music with Russian sensibilities. He is best known for the 1812 Overture (a piece he personally was not fond of) alongside his ballets; Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty which are all considered masterpieces of classical music and I personally love his style and feel that his pieces are beautiful with as sense of wonder and can also have a great epic scale.

 

Tchaikovsky’s personal life was certainly very complicated as being a gay man in Russia in the late 19^th Century was not easy (much like it is today). Though whilst homosexuality was a crime in this period, the upper classes (such as Tchaikovsky) were not usually prosecuted however, it is still likely that the majority of people had a negative view of homosexuality. The pressure placed on Tchaikovsky by the homophobia that surrounded him had a profound effect on the man as he became uncomfortable with his sexuality which was not helped by his father pressuring him to marry a woman.

 

Despite all the difficulties he faced, he at least did not have to face them alone. Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pyotr’s brother was one of his closest confidants as well as being an openly gay man too. Modest was a fascinating man who unfortunately was overshadowed by his more talented older brother. Modest was a dramatist, wrote librettos for operas and had a degree in law. He also tutored Nikolai (Kolya) Hermanovich Konradi, a deaf-mute boy and taught him to talk, write and read using a special teaching method.

Pyotr and Modest’s friendship was very strong and the two of them helped each other through hardships in their lives. This friendship, alongside a large group of adoring friends and relatives is said to have helped Pyotr balance his sexuality in his own mind and eventually become more comfortable with it later on in his life.

 

 

However, Tchaikovsky did eventually cave in to his father’s urgings and married a former student of his name Antonia Milukova. He considered the marriage a mistake almost immediately and the betrothal did not last long. Besides the obvious problems, the pair was mismatched psychologically and the marriage left Tchaikovsky distraught. After the two split, Tchaikovsky seemed to come to a realisation about himself and said in a letter to his brother Anatoly;

 

“(there is) nothing more futile than wanting to be anything other than what I am by nature.”

 

Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy widow became a close friend of Tchaikovsky’s not long after he separated from his wife. Nadezhda became a close friend, confidante and eventually patron which also helped Tchaikovsky have time to think about his music once more and not worry about any other matters such as finances. He went on to create great masterpieces to a large public accolade.

 

 

 

 

“Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.”

 

Tchaikovsky with a quote I most certainly agree with.

 

 

At the age of 53, nine days after the premiere of his sixth symphony, ‘Pathetique’ in Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died of Cholera many believe. However, it seems that Tchaikovsky’s death was inconclusive and others believe that he could have killed himself. As there is no evidence we will never find out the true cause of his death.

 

The Russian Government have absurdly been denying Tchaikovsky’s sexuality and trying to cover up all traces of his life that allude to it, such as censoring his brother Modest’s autobiography (which mentions much of Tchaikovsky’s private life) to the general public. A new biopic of his life, named “Tchaikovsky” has also removed all mentions of his sexuality so that they do not get on the wrong side of Russian law.

 

Vladimir Medinsky, the Russian ministry of culture has been emphatic in his denial of Tchaikovsky’s sexuality and states that there is no evidence to suggest that he was a gay man and that everything else is just rumours that should not be believed. Historians, amongst many others were flabbergasted at such a statement as there is much biographical evidence about his private life, a lot of it that mentions his sexuality and even how he felt about being a gay man. Even Vladimir Putin himself has conceded that Tchaikovsky was gay;

 

“They say that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual…Truth be told, we don’t love him because of that, but he was a great musician, and we all love his music. So what?”

 

Despite more than 120 years passing on since his death, some parts of Russia haven’t changed and are as homophobic as ever.

 

It seems that Tchaikovsky has taken up much of my time and space on this blog which cannot be helped but there are still many wonderful people to cover such as Rudolf Nureyev and Sophie Parnok amongst others. To spread the love I will post a series of blogs to celebrate these icons that are no longer allowed to be celebrated in their home land and give them the justice that they deserve.

 

We must not allow Putin or anyone else to abuse human rights in this way and make sure that the LGBT community of Russia can find their voice in the international media if they are no longer allow to speak freely in their own country.