People love Tchaikovsky’s music. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, the symphonies, and his violin and piano concertos are heard regularly in concert halls and on WNED Classical – and his Nutcracker Ballet is a Christmas tradition around the world. Yes, people love Tchaikovsky’s music.
But some people don’t love Tchaikovsky “the whole human being.” Either they deny that he was gay, or they attribute any negative quality he may have had to his sexuality.
It’s a fact that Tchaikovsky was a gay man. We know this from his letters and diaries. It shouldn’t matter that he was gay, but apparently it does. One Russian professor wrote:
Such radiant, healing music could not have been written by an unbalanced person.
In other words, Tchaikovsky couldn’t have been gay, or his music wouldn’t be so good.
On the other hand, there are those who used his sexuality to explain anything negative about him.
Tchaikovsky was shallow, vain, and dressed in ways that are in keeping with men of his persuasion.
So, Tchaikovsky couldn’t win. Either he wasn’t gay because his music is so good, or he was gay and that’s why he was shallow, vain, and dressed funny.
So, which is it?
I argue that it was neither. Tchaikovsky was a complicated, multi-faceted, unique individual. He was who he was – a whole human being. When historians, scholars, and governments deny Tchaikovsky’s sexuality, or disparage him for it, they are being dishonest and foolhardy. Tchaikovsky lived in a society that shamed and punished gay people harshly. This fact had to affect his life and music. How could it not?
Acceptance and respect are popular buzz words during Pride Month. We hear them in speeches and all over the media, but they have so much more potential. Put into action, acceptance and respect are uplifting. When we uplift one another, we make the world a better place.
Yes, people love Tchaikovsky’s music. Now let’s love Tchaikovsky “the whole human being.”