ell says of him that he "was a highly gifted, true musician,
but at the same time a good Russian; hence are found in his works
thoughts of almost maidenly delicacy and sentiment and of the most
refined construction; yet, side by side with them, others of
semi-Asiatic roughness and brutality."

Owing to his having resided at times in Switzerland, Italy, etc., his
works were quite soon recognized and played, and the University of
Cambridge in 1893 conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of
Music.

Tschaikowsky was the composer of eleven operas, the first having been
produced in 1869 and the last in 1893. All of these, as I understand,
were performed, and several of them are standard favorites in the
Russian repertory, the most important, perhaps, being "Eugen Onegin,"
which was also produced at Hamburg in 1892. He wrote six symphonies,
of which the last, the so-called "Pathetique," was completed shortly
before his death. The Fifth Symphony is a more popular and commanding
musical work than any other of its class written since Beethoven.
According to the idea of Mr. Theodore Thomas, it is too emotional and
dramatic for a symphony; but it is extremely powerful and beautiful
music, and the world has recognized it and takes pleasure in paying it
honor. Among the most satisfactory of the Tschaikowsky compositions
are the songs, which are among the most impassioned and beautiful of
recent years; the melodies are flowing and thoroughly vocal, while the
harmonies have that singular originality and heart-searching fervor of
which Tschaikowsky was the greatest exponent. Many of his orchestral
works have been cut for the Aeolian, and persons possessing that
convenient instrument can easily explore the treasures of them.

His piano compositions present a very curious contradiction; while the
composer produced in one instance a concerto for piano and orchestra,
in B-flat minor, which contains extremely strongly marked and
productive themes worked out exquisitely for the piano and for the
orchestra, his works for piano solo are generally not altogether
satisfactory. Possibly this may be due to innovations of style and
technic which later will become easy to the players; but at present an
easy piece by Tschaikowsky requires more or less preparation. The
following program, on the whole, seems to represent his peculiarities
with some success:

PROGRAM FROM RUBINSTEIN AND TSCHAIKOWSKY.

Rubinstein:
Tarantelle