Tchaikovsky was very successful musically, but he has been called the unhappiest man in music. He suffered from depression throughout his life, and even his great successes were followed by periods of melancholy. He lived a fairly solitary life, suffered from constant headaches and indigestion, and always believed that he was about to die. He hated conducting, because he thought he would, literally, lose his head. He would hold onto his head with his left hand while conducting with his right. He got married, in 1877, to one of his students after she threatened to commit suicide if he didn't marry her. The marriage ended after just nine weeks, when he tried to kill himself by jumping into an icy river. He later developed an interesting relationship with a wealthy widow. She wished to remain anonymous, but offered to provide him with all the money he needed to compose music, so Tchaikovsky gave up teaching. It is said that they never spoke to one another except through the many letters they shared, and although they met accidentally on two occasions, they did not speak. The widow supported him for fourteen years, until one day, when she wrote to him and said was bankrupt and that her financial support would have to cease. Tchaikovsky soon found out that her story of bankruptcy was a lie, and he was devastated, not by the loss of income, but by the realization that she was not a true friend. ...
