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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Composer of the Week: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Episode 3: A Private Life in Turmoil

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Episode 3

Episode 3: A Private Life in Turmoil

A Private Life in Turmoil

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), A Private Life in Turmoil

How, as Tchaikovsky's reputation was growing, his personal life was becoming intolerable.

Donald Macleod explains how, as Tchaikovsky's reputation was growing, his personal life was becoming intolerable.

Whilst Tchaikovsky's reputation was growing, his personal life was becoming intolerable.

Tchaikovsky was stuck in a marriage that was founded on a huge misunderstanding. He was gay and had thought that the union was a mutually agreeable arrangement. However, his wife did not understand at all, and remained under the delusion that Tchaikovsky loved her. His struggles with their hopeless relationship drove both to unbearable mental anquish. 
Whilst all this was going on Tchaikovsky was fêted in Russia, composing his 1812 overture and his ballet Swan Lake. He was now in a position to stop teaching at the conservatoire and make his living composing full-time.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His output included symphonies, concertos, chamber music, operas and ballets

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Composer of the Week

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Episode 3: A Private Life in Turmoil

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