# How popular is Tchaikovsky these days?



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

Tchaikovsky is one of a favorites, there was no composition by him I listened to I didn't like-though I must admit, I don't have his operas yet-but when I will, I expect to feel the same awe,,,am I in a lesser position? One person here suggested him music is filled with emotion and thus appeals to younger people, and they lose interest in him when they age-well, kids love snow while adults are usually less exited-and here you go. two aspects that as far as they concerned I will never grow up!
So how many and old are his fans today? Is he also common outside Russia?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> So how large and old are his fans today? Is he also common outside Russia?


Your typical Tchaikovsky fan is very large. And very old. He is virtually unheard of outside of Russia. In fact, I've never heard of him myself.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

He's one of the most popular Classical music composers ever. World-wide!


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

flamencosketches said:


> Your typical Tchaikovsky fan is very large. And very old. He is virtually unheard of outside of Russia. In fact, I've never heard of him myself.


XD
Now really, I was referring to the size of the audience. not physical size, but I fixed that...a more serious note please?


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Tchaikovsky is still a very popular composer nowadays. In both the Ranker and the TheTopTens websites, he is currently ranked as the fourth top composer, with 2850 likes in the first and 8% of the votes in the second. If you use Google Trends and compare him with other composers you'll see that he is relatively very popular according to that site too.

The russian is not popular only among casual listeners but also among experient music writters too. In the book "_Music, the Definitive Visual History_", Tchaikovsky is one of the few composers to receive two entire pages devoted to his works and biography, and in "_The Complete Classical Music Guide_" he received the same number of pages as other famous great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner. Here at TC he has been ranked as the sixth favorite composer in a list compiled in 2011 that considered the tastes of many members.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

Allerius said:


> Tchaikovsky is still a very popular composer nowadays. In both the Ranker and the TheTopTens websites, he is currently ranked as the fourth top composer, with 2850 likes in the first and 8% of the votes in the second. If you use Google Trends and compare him with other composers you'll see that he is relatively very popular according to that site too.
> 
> The russian is not popular only among casual listeners but also among experient music writters too. In the book "_Music, the Definitive Visual History_", Tchaikovsky is one of the few composers to receive two entire pages devoted to his works and biography, and in "_The Complete Classical Music Guide_" he received the same number of pages as other famous great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner. Here at TC he has been ranked as the sixth favorite composer in a list compiled in 2011 that considered the tastes of many members.


Great answer, thank you! It's good to know my love to Tchaikovsky is felt by other people too!


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Still popular with perhaps a new take on him. Still thrilling after all these years. Many listeners have come to CM through Tchaikowsky even if they eventually move on to someone else.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Great answer, thank you! It's good to know my love to Tchaikovsky is felt by other people too!


Have in mind though that Tchaikovsky is somewhat popular compared to other classical composers, but not necessarily outside of classical music, which seems to be, unfortunately, a passion of only a very small percentage of the total of listeners today.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Used to be Tchaikovsky was heard of and a piece or pieces by him were cited and claimed to be "loved" by almost everyone -- especially people who weren't considered big fans of CM. Tuneful, emotional, great orchestration. In the CM community he was kind of a guilty pleasure (often still is). That position, in recent decades, has been taken up more respectably by Dvorak.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

It's common for super-sophisticated musical mavens (much like ourselves in fact) to dump on Tchaikovsky. He's far too popular and seldom "plumbs the depths" we admire so much in more awe-inspiring composers (mostly of the Teutonic persuasion of course).

But I was listening to music from _The Nutcracker_ in the car yesterday. Neither Ludwig Van nor any of his crew could possibly have written a work so crammed full of memorable tunes, original orchestrations, and astonishing harmonies! Brahms was sensitive to this, as when he bemoaned the fact that it was Strauss, not he, who wrote _The Beautiful Blue Danube_.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers ever, critics be damned. There's always been a certain snobbery about him and intelligent, thoughtful listeners are supposed to find him second-rate. The classic text A History of Western Music by Donald J Grout writes him off in a couple of short paragraphs. Pierre Boulez wouldn't conduct a note. But the music speaks for itself - it somehow reaches deep into our souls and works its magic. The music is timeless - and long after the garbage that was written by the serialists is forgotten, people will still be enthralled with the glorious music of the Russian master. Just how much his music still resonates was brought home clearly at a recent concert I played. The first half was a Copland overture. Audience couldn't have cared less. Then a relatively new concerto for violin that we were all supposed to find so great and interesting. Audience was bored, I was bored. Then came the Tchaikovsky 5th. It's a hoot to play and at the end the audience roared its approval and applauded loudly and long. Real music! Great music! Modern composers could learn a lot from Tchaikovsky - he knew how to appeal to audiences in ways they can't. He was a genius, yet had the common touch. He was as skilled craftsman as ever lived. He absolutely could "plumb the depths" as the Pathetique beautifully proves. His operas are magnificent - sadly, in the west, only two of them are ever given. Long live Tchaikovsky - in my humble opinion he was the greatest composer who ever lived.


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## Minor Sixthist (Apr 21, 2017)

Some people react in an odd way to an artist's "popularity." Well, it's not that odd, in that I guess it's not too hard understand - some people come to be acquainted with this attitude wherein they start thinking popularity must act indirectly with profundity, or some idea of it. It's actually quite egotistical: if a large enough body of people like something, some feel they have to set themselves apart by deliberately rejecting the popular thing in favor of something less popular, something untouched by the dirty hand of the masses. It's the assumption one might have that - God forbid! - lots of other people might be able to think as deeply about something as they are, and for some that comes as blunt force ego trauma. Luckily most people don't stoop to that sort of attitude, and I exaggerate, but I'm sure we've all come across it a few times.



mbhaub said:


> He absolutely could "plumb the depths" as the Pathetique beautifully proves.


Truly! His symphonies are dynamic, moving, meticulously worked; the Sixth masters emotional depth. I hardly remember a colleague with which I played a Tchaik symphony who was not excited to get to his end of rehearsal, whether it was the Sixth or the Second symphony, or a ballet, or the Polonaise from _Eugene Onegain_.

Listen on, OP - don't let any crazy erudite who's had too much sugar make you uncertain. Some people bring accusation against the Late Romantic period for being too weepily sentimental, to which I can't help personally thinking, _well, that's the point_, and if it's not your thing, great. Diversity is the spice of life. And if Tchaikovsky is some sort of highly emotional paprika, let him be - he channels that spice onto the many-ledgered orchestral score well enough.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> Your typical Tchaikovsky fan is very large. And very old. He is virtually unheard of outside of Russia. In fact, I've never heard of him myself.


Are you serious flamencosketches?


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Tchaikovsky is one of a favorites, there was no composition by him I listened to I didn't like-though I must admit, I don't have his operas yet-but when I will, I expect to feel the same awe,,,am I in a lesser position? One person here suggested him music is filled with emotion and thus appeals to younger people, and they lose interest in him when they age-well, kids love snow while adults are usually less exited-and here you go. two aspects that as far as they concerned I will never grow up!
> So how many and old are his fans today? Is he also common outside Russia?


Though Tchaikovsky's compositions are clearly well crafted I generally find his music sentimental to the point of embarrassment. For me, his music doesn't represent reality which I would say is more nuanced. I did like some pieces when I was younger.


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2019)

janxharris said:


> Though Tchaikovsky's compositions are clearly well crafted I generally find his music sentimental to the point of embarrassment. For me, his music doesn't represent reality which I would say is more nuanced. I did like some pieces when I was younger.


That sums it up for me too. I used to be a big fan but these days he's not longer on my regular listening list. I've rather gone off late 19th C romantic music, and much prefer the early romantics.

I've found from talking to many people that their tastes in classical music change quite a lot over time. Some people seem to be able to add more and more composers to their favoured lists as they age, whilst other tend to gain some and lose some. I'm more in the latter category.

I agree that Tchaikovsky is probably the greatest (most popular) of all the Russian composers, and is probably in the top 10 on most polls.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

An early favourite of mine when I started exploring classical music in the mid 80s. I still like him a lot, but in the decades that followed, I discovered many composers whom I like even more. For my blog I'm preparing a list of my favourite 50 composers - he'll make it, ending up around #30 or so. Which is still quite good.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Rogerx said:


> Are you serious flamencosketches?


No I was just being smug. In poor taste I guess, but I was just making a sarcastic joke about how Tchaikovsky is one of the two or three first composers anyone hears about here in America, and thought it was funny that the OP asked if he was "also common outside Russia".

In fact, the local symphony orchestra here recently performed Tchaikovsky's 5th as part of their free concerts in the park series and it was excellent, despite just horrible acoustics, being in a park. Everyone went nuts for it. I couldn't believe how many people came out to see a classical concert. Families, people my age, 20s-30s, older folks. Like I said, everyone loved it. I say that was the perfect choice for a free concert.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

When some very young children show interest to start with an instrument and their parents bring them to conservatory, the teachers ask them if they know some famous composers. 80% are saying Beethoven, Tschaikowky and ...Vivaldi. (the last one will study violin, cello etc..) The very first work of classical music I heard (in a MC) was Tschaikowskys 1st PC...


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

And many millions will know the main tune of his first piano concerto, even if they don't know who composed it. It's used in a Gazprom commercial that is aired on TV before Champion League football matches.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm sure Tchaikovsky is very popular these days and perhaps more so than in the past. There was a time when serious classical music listeners looked down their noses at most of his music but I think that position is less common and perhaps less acceptable these day.


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