Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, or Pyotr Illich, was born May 7th, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia. Votkinsk was about 500 miles east of Moscow. His family was considered upper class, and was not musical. He had a rather difficult childhood.

Although he was musically gifted, his family did not encourage him in any way. Peter's emotions spanned from extremely happy to intensely depressed. At eight, his family moved to Moscow and then to St. Petersburg. When he was 14 his mother got sick from cholera and died, affecting him deeply. Peter decided to study law, so he went to law school. Well into his studies he decided that law was an ill choice for someone of his "emotional temperament." At this time he had a relatively good job in the civil service, and he didn't like it.

At 22 he left his job in the civil service and entered The Conservatory of Music in...