Talk:Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

ok, so how should we spell Tchaikovsky's name? I've seen a few different versions here. What is considered 'correct' transliteration? If/when we reach consensus, the content should be moved to a page with the agreed and the other pages redirect to it.

Pyotor would be the Russian word: for these purposes (an English encyclopedia), it should be Peter

I don't want to get involved in the mire that is a transliteration discussion, but I should think that "Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky" is the most usual spelling of his name at this time in the West. Maybe (maybe) the article should be moved, but I ain't doing it. --Camembert

My opinion. This is a general problem with the similar Russian names and surnames (for example Chebyshev, Joffe, Fock (or Fok) and such). I know that many times even Russians can't agree what is correct latin transliteration. They can use several different names even in their passports and it is just fine at customs. Another problem is that Russian write western names in their own "strange" transliteration and not in the original (so Newton would be somehow Nyutn). Therefore I use (until I am stopped to do this by the other wikipedians) in English Wikipedia original Russian names, so I would also include in this particular article his Russian original name as Пьотр Илич Чайковски (This probably won't be shown correctly all over - fixed later on). And also for instance we westeners usually use only one (or first) name (e.g. John F. Kennedy). Russians, as I know, they call themselves not by surnames but with their name and their otchestvo (father's name - second name). Regarding Pyotr I do believe this is the right and the only way to traslate to latin Russian personal names. It is true that Peter is English name - but we can't translate "the meaning". It is okay untill we have a list of all posibilities and I am shure it would be very long. For instance how would be Tchaikovsky's daugter called in English then: Natasha Pyotrnovna Tchaikovsky or Natasha Peternovna Tchaikovsky? Best regard. -- XJamRastafire 09:22 Jul 28, 2002 (PDT)

Yes, "Peternova" does look vaguely ridiculous. My feeling was that "Peter Ilyich" would be best because it is the most common spelling in English speaking countries (I admit I have no evidence to back this up, but I suspect it is true - a quick Google search appears to back this up). But on reflection, I think it's probably best to consult a number of large English language music dictionaries (such as Grove) and see how they tackle the problem - I suspect that they will have used the same spelling we have here at present ("Pyotr Ilyich"). In any event, it isn't a particularly pressing problem so long as one central article is maintained with redirects dealing with any stray links. I think placing the cyrillic on the page is a good idea, but I can't see it, and I think somebody who can should do it. Thanks --Camembert

I am glad that someone slightly agree with my 'NPOV'. And as I know for instance Donald Ervin Knuth has on the net such long list about the Russian names of which he would like to get through, probably once and for all. That is why this is not just my kind of fashion as someones here think. And BTW I adore Tchaikovsky's music even if some rumours are there out he was somehow gay and with strange sexual orientation. Music, I guess does not know any boundaries. Thank you, too. -- XJamRastafire 18:44 Jul 30, 2002 (PDT)

Cuz it's just so bizarre for gay men to be in the music and ballet business. montréalais

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Also, let it be known that Tchaikovsky did not write a ballet called The Nutcracker Suite. He wrote a ballet called The Nutcracker and then extracted some pieces from it to make the concert work The Nutcracker Suite (ie a suite of peices taken from the ballet The Nutcracker). A lot of people get confused about this, so I'm clarifying it before anybody changes it back again. --Camembert

While we're at it, he didn't write a Symphony No. 6 in B minor called the "pathetic symphony" either. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Music, "patetichesky" in Russian means "passionate".Ortolan88

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Jeronimo moved this page to Pyotr Tchaikovsky, which I think is wrong, so I've moved it back - however his name gets spelled, it is very rare indeed for people to refer to him as "Peter Tchaikovsky"; is it either "Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky" or simply "Tchaikovsky" (Google confirms that ommitting the middle name is relatively uncommon). --Camembert

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Is it really "generaly accepted that his death was by suicide"? Dutch Wikipedia for instance says the exact opposite: death due to cholera with rumours that this was intentional poisoning.

This has been the cause of a great deal of debate, and to date there is no definitive answer. One theory is that a secret court sentenced him to suicide or face being exposed as a homosexual, for his sexual involvement with the son of a member of the aristocracy. Another is it was suicide for other reasons. Another is that it was plain foolhardiness in drinking unboiled water during a cholera epidemic, to prove he was not susceptible to it. We may never know. JackofOz 05:51, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

According to Robert Greenburg (source cited in article), there is no longer a question of what happened. His lecture refers to evidence released by the Russian government. <>< tbc 05:32, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

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This may not be necessary, but just to clarify: an anon editor keeps changing the age at which he began studying piano from five to six. This is incorrect. He began lessons in 1845, at the age of five, and even more amazing, he wrote a song to his mother (according to a letter from his father) in September 1844, at the age of FOUR. The anon editor's last change did verify that the intent was vandalism all along. Antandrus 17:48, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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RUSSIAN ALPHABET

The Cyrillic letters show accents over the 'myagkii znak' in Ilyich, and over the -k- in Tchaikovsky. These are wrong. You can't accent consonants in Russian. They belong over the second -i- in Ilyich and the -o- in Tchaikovsky. JackofOz 05:51, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Biography

Some links in the section might better be removed - see Wikipedia:Make only links relevant to the context? Schissel : bowl listen 21:41, July 20, 2005 (UTC)