AlexAndra Tchaikovskaya, the composer’s mother, came from a family of customs official Andrey Assier and deacon’s daughter EkaterIna Popova.
Andrey Assier was half German, half French. His father, Michel Acier, worked at the Meissen porcelain manufactory. Andrey moved to Russia during his youth.
With his excellent education, great knowledge of languages, and the necessary connections, he quickly acquired a good position in society and received the rank of an active state councilor. He worked in customs. Andrey soon married Ekaterina Mikhailovna Popova. Their happiness was short-lived: Ekaterina died when their daughter was only six years old. The saddened father sent Alexandra off to the Female Orphan School. The institution took care of the girls' needs and provided an excellent education for those times.
Alexandra Tchaikovskaya loved music, played the grand piano, and could sing quite well. Her son Pyotr particularly remembered her performance of AlyAbyev’s The Nightingale: even years later, he could not listen to it without tears. Tchaikovskaya managed to pass her love for music on to her children. It was her who sat the little Pyotr at the piano and taught him the basics of playing music.
Alexandra became the second wife of Pyotr’s father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky–his first wife had died when their daughter Zinaida was a little girl. Alexandra Andreevna treated her stepdaughter open-heartedly, as if she was her own child, and loved her just like her other children.
Alexandra Tchaikovskaya had a strict and composed character, unlike her husband, who was outgoing and amiable. Nevertheless, the letters they wrote each other were full of fondness and care. The family always lived in the atmosphere of love, harmony and respect. Their children’s memories of the family house painted a perfect picture of happiness and a true home.
Tchaikovsky loved his mother a lot, he literally adored her. To him, every parting was a true grief, and the minutes they spent together–the greatest happiness.
Alexandra Andreevna saw and understood that her son was special. Although she did not pick favorites with regards to her children, in private conversation Ilya Petrovich and her called Pyotr ‘the family’s gold and treasure’.
Alexandra died of cholera when Pyotr was 14 years old. That loss was the hardest blow for the composer, which he could never come to terms with. Many years later, Tchaikovsky still confessed he remembered every single minute of that horrible day.
Andrey Assier was half German, half French. His father, Michel Acier, worked at the Meissen porcelain manufactory. Andrey moved to Russia during his youth.
With his excellent education, great knowledge of languages, and the necessary connections, he quickly acquired a good position in society and received the rank of an active state councilor. He worked in customs. Andrey soon married Ekaterina Mikhailovna Popova. Their happiness was short-lived: Ekaterina died when their daughter was only six years old. The saddened father sent Alexandra off to the Female Orphan School. The institution took care of the girls' needs and provided an excellent education for those times.
Alexandra Tchaikovskaya loved music, played the grand piano, and could sing quite well. Her son Pyotr particularly remembered her performance of AlyAbyev’s The Nightingale: even years later, he could not listen to it without tears. Tchaikovskaya managed to pass her love for music on to her children. It was her who sat the little Pyotr at the piano and taught him the basics of playing music.
Alexandra became the second wife of Pyotr’s father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky–his first wife had died when their daughter Zinaida was a little girl. Alexandra Andreevna treated her stepdaughter open-heartedly, as if she was her own child, and loved her just like her other children.
Alexandra Tchaikovskaya had a strict and composed character, unlike her husband, who was outgoing and amiable. Nevertheless, the letters they wrote each other were full of fondness and care. The family always lived in the atmosphere of love, harmony and respect. Their children’s memories of the family house painted a perfect picture of happiness and a true home.
Tchaikovsky loved his mother a lot, he literally adored her. To him, every parting was a true grief, and the minutes they spent together–the greatest happiness.
Alexandra Andreevna saw and understood that her son was special. Although she did not pick favorites with regards to her children, in private conversation Ilya Petrovich and her called Pyotr ‘the family’s gold and treasure’.
Alexandra died of cholera when Pyotr was 14 years old. That loss was the hardest blow for the composer, which he could never come to terms with. Many years later, Tchaikovsky still confessed he remembered every single minute of that horrible day.
