As the world continues to watch the Russian invasion of Ukraine in horror, nations around the world have rushed to cut ties with Russia in all forms. That includes the cancellation of concerts of one of Russia’s most celebrated composers.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky lived from 1840 to 1893 and penned some of the most iconic music in history. His compositions include the ballet The Nutcracker, which has become a staple of the Christmas season. Tchaikovsky also wrote the music for the ballet Sleeping Beauty, which Disney later adapted for an animated musical in 1959, as well as the 1812 Overture, one of the most-played pieces of music in history.
Also of note: Though Russia, especially under the Soviet regime, has gone to great lengths to deny it, biographers widely agree that Tchaikovsky was gay. He had a relationship with Sergey Kireyev, whom he met at University, as well as the violinist Iosif Kotek. By contrast, Tchaikovsky’s marriage to a woman, Antonina Miliukova, was a total disaster, and only lasted about two months.
Related: Warlord who led torture and murder of LGBTQ Chechens killed in Ukraine
The current social media outrage over Tchaikovsky stems from a number of orchestras that have pulled his work from planned concerts in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both the Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra of Japan and the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra of Wales have announced they have nixed planned performances of 1812 Overture in response to the invasion.
Predictably, the nixing of the performances have sent right-wing Twitter into a frenzy, as users bemoan “cancel culture” and liberal overreach. Conservative commentators Ben Shapiro, George Galloway, and Douglas Murray have all taken to Twitter to rail against these two local incidents.
For the record, we don’t think for a moment that two local orchestras canceling performances somehow means Tchaikovsky and his music will be boycotted indefinitely. Still, some people need to rage over a lack of sympathy toward Russia and its imperialist aggression. We also have to wonder if these people realize Tchaikovsky was gay.
Have a look at some of the wildest responses…
Liberals under Trump: Stop saying Wuhan flu! It is racist and causing violence!
Liberals under Biden: Boycott Russian-named restaurants owned by Ukrainians! Cancel Russian musicians! Stop playing Tchaikovsky!— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 9, 2022
Ignoramuses. What does Tchaikovsky have to do with Vladimir Putin? https://t.co/gtRTwcDUgu
— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) March 9, 2022
The irony. Tchaikovsky was one of the first (and only) composers to eschew Russian nationalism and try to integrate his music with the West. Also, he died over a century ago. We’ve lost our minds. https://t.co/98dtHTNZpo
— Billy Binion (@billybinion) March 9, 2022
Banning/dropping Tchaikovsky is just bonkers. There are some difficult judgments to make at the moment. Playing the music of long-dead Russians isn’t one of them.
— Jonathan Jones (@SirJJQC) March 9, 2022
I'm fairly certain Tchaikovsky was not consulted before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. So banning his music from your concert hall doesn't really seem to make sense. pic.twitter.com/rxhEefjbLT
— Mike Glenn (@mrglenn) March 9, 2022
Great people of #Wales: of AJ Cook and Bevan. The people of the Valleys to whom Paul Robeson sang. The #Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra have just banned #Tchaikovsky. What will you say about this fascistic book-burning? pic.twitter.com/gTYuOnPZuW
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) March 9, 2022
white-queer-african
Our hearts bleed for the innocent people of Ukraine. That the monster Putin is not just responsible for murdering innocent Ukrainian people, he is also responsible for destroying Russian culture. Buddy of Trump. Cut from the same cloth. Dictators.
I weep!
fur_hunter
…….. And once again, ignorance, intolerance, discrimination, hate, bigotry and stupidity prevail. It’s sad and disgraceful at the same time.
ShiningSex
First off Ben Shapiro’s tweet is stupid. People boycotting Russia shouldn’t be an issue unless you feel what Russia is doing to the Ukraine isn’t that big of a deal. It is!
F*ck Russia. I feel sorry for Russians who don’t agree with Putin and can’t speak out.
cubcmh
He also composed numerous – beautiful – pieces in Slavonic for Eastern rite services that are still used today. Are Orthodox churches in Russia – around the world? – going to boycott his music as well?
What’s next? Boycott all music that is composed, performed, promoted, etc. by LGBTQ+ artists? Sounds dreadfully boring.
ShiningSex
Ben Shapiro is a f*cking moron.
It’s not the same thing.
Also republicans tend to call liberals commie but then a lot of them support Trump who loves Putin. Makes NO SENSE. Republicans are just idiots.
U.S. needs to get involved before it gets worse and too late for Ukraine.
Fahd
While the democratic world is trying to use shunning and isolation to turn back Putin’s vicious military invasion that is actually killing children, I have no problem giving any Russian composer or artist a hard pass for the time being. It’s symbolic and temporary.
Would you insist on Wagner while Hitler invaded Poland? Can you look the children hiding in Ukraine’s subways without heat, food or even water in the eye and tell them you need your Tchaikovsky now?
Seems there is no end to what these Republican wackos will try to politicize and made worse now with this headline… talk about pandering… worst kind of clickbait here.
Alex_S
Wagner’s Ring was performed at Met in 1940. No one stopped to perform Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert or Mozart around the world because of Nazis.
Fahd
@Alex
I defer to your better memory, but I wouldn’t have supported that either and at the time neither were they fighting a battle that relied on shunning and isolation – there was an all out World War, something we are trying to avoid.
When the French wouldn’t support the U.S. misguided attack on Iraq, the Republicans in Congress demanded the cafeteria serve “Freedom Fries” – of course no Republican actually went without. Now the Republicans can’t do enough to undermine the support for the Ukrainian people.
Btw, there’s always CDs if you really can’t forgo your Russian composers while the Russians lead by Putin are bombing the Ukraine into oblivion. Shame on you!
MarcyMayer
“Now the Republicans can’t do enough to undermine the support for the Ukrainian people.”
Really?
Biden’s State Department said today that America will not have any part in giving Ukraine fighter jets. That doesn’t sound like Biden or the Dems support the Ukrainian people.
Fahd
@Marcy
Working hours in Russia? You low-life, Russian troll trying to spread misinformation. The Western world which has access to the truth knows quite well that the Biden administration together with NATO is trying to avoid provoking shorty Putin, who has backed himself into a corner, from going completely berserk and blowing us all up. How judicious and well-considered the unified Western approach! – the opposite of Russian foreign policy. Hopeful news: It actually looks like Ukraine will repel the barbarians.
Must be fun without McDonalds, Starbucks, etc. etc. — at least you can read Western internet sites as part of work. Back under your rock now. We don’t want you Russian trolls here.
The Accidental Polemicist
Yep, critics from both sides of the partisan aisle took aim at the Biden administration for refusing Poland’s plan to supply Ukraine with fighter jets after calling on other nations to do so.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that NATO allies were allowed to send fighter jets to Ukraine and said they were in talks with Poland to do exactly that.
On Tuesday, Poland caught the administration by surprise when it announced that it would deliver a fleet of MIG-29 jets to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and allow the U.S. to dispose of them as it saw fit.
The administration first said the plan was not “tenable” and then on Wednesday, rejected it altogether.
“Our American partners rejected this proposal, because they have come to the conclusion that it was too escalatory,” said Poland’s ambassador to the U.S.
Jimmy Carter is probably pretty darn happy he has lived this long so as not to be considered the worst president in U.S. history.
You have been forewarned.
Fahd
@Accident (of birth?)
Resident troll under alternative screen name #whatever repeats the Russian “forewarnings” from the vast nothingness. Trying to sow discord for borscht.
The democratic, Western world under Biden’s leadership has never been more united and China has decided not to sell replacement aviation parts to their Russian “friends”.
Putin’s barbarism will catch up with him and cut short his plans “to serve” indefinitely. Putin looks more hunched over than ever when he appears; pretty soon he’ll be walking on all fours.
The real Bruce
Putin is culture dead. Clueless about the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and all of the others of the romantic era. Prokofiev and Stravinsky too. Banning their music solves nothing. Putin could care less. Looking into his eyes you see dead eyes of a shark. No heart or soul. Even the Russian people are protesting against him. Like drumpf, he’ll come to a bad end, I think. Can’t be too soon.
Ginger Tom
I think we could safely leave Tchaikovsky out of the boycott of Russian goods, trade with Russia etc. I really don’t care for his music or that of any other Russian composers for that matter but I don’t think he has much to do with all this and a lot of people actually enjoy it.
GreekKeys
Tchaikovsky cannot be “cancelled.” Can we stop with this stupid euphemism? It’s meaningless.
MarcyMayer
Bill Maher believes that cancel culture is real and it will sink liberalism.
Halfnhalf
The choice of Tchaikovsky concerts is probably incidental. It could have been any Russian composer, his music was on a schedule to be played. I’m not sure any other reason is needed.
Den
Reasonable thought like yours is lost on the right.
LMG
This nonsense about Tchaikovsky is moronic. The Russian school of music is one of the greatest if not THE greatest! What about film composers who came from Russia? Do you now ban any movie for which Dimitri Tiomkin composed the music? He ran away from Russia. Shostakovich got in trouble with Stalin for not initially towing a certain line. His 5th symphony redeemed him. Look at the following names and weep. Borodin (whose music was used for KISMET); Glasunov (whose music influenced Friedhofer’s music for THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR); Stravinsky’s music was used in Disney’s FANTASIA; then we have Rimsky-Korsakov (SHEREZADE); Glier, Mussorgsky (whose music was also used in FANTASIA); Balakirev, Cui, Prokofiev (ROMEO & JULIET); Rachmaninoff, Arensky, and on and. The focus on Tchaikovsky is the dumbest thing yet. But what can you expect in a climate polluted by Vladimir Putin who is NOT of this Earth – a deranged evil former KGB operative and a killer. He says that he didn’t get enough deference from others. What the H was Trump that gigantic A-Hole giving him for more than four years? This all beyond the pale of human decency and behavior.
DuMaurier
Okay, I knew he was gay, and I’m not “enraged” by this, it’s just another reminder of how moronic our human race can be. Like the people boycotting Russian restaurants and posting fake negative reviews, even though the owners are here because they’re overwhelmingly opposed to conditions in Russia and are probably more pro-American than most of us red-blooded natural born ‘Mericans.
Jaquelope
Well said. I agree with you 100%.
If those two orchestras don’t want to play his music, I guess that’s their right even if I think it’s a stupid thing to do because the only thing in common between him and Putin is that they are both Russian, but Tchaikovsky had been dead long before Putin was even born.
nm4047
I guess it can be put down to the Russian’s airTchaikovsky’s music when the want to deflect from a major announcement, eg the recent TV station that was closed with the mass resignation, dead air was replaced with the clip of swan lake, synonymous with the soviet era and recent pre-emptive bad news announcements.
Inspector 57
I know next to nothing about music royalty payments. Does any person, estate, or institution receive money each time a Tchaikovsky piece is performed, played on radio, or sold on recorded media?
Heywood Jablowme
Tchaikovsky’s music is now in the public domain. Anyone can use it at no cost.
Inspector 57
Thank you, Mr. Jablowme!
In that case, this boycotting is pointless. Actually, in my mind, worse than pointless.
I understand the sometimes useful role of symbolic behavior. But this misguided effort paints general and undeserved negative perceptions of all things Russian instead of targeting the actual evil, who is Putin, of course.
And beyond the damage the sentiment does to innocent and uninvolved people, it also encourages a simplistic, jingoistic, “do something,” knee-jerk approach to important issues and discourages actual critical thinking. It distracts attention and prevents the channeling of effort into meaningful action.
Den
Ben Shapiro has to be one of the biggest idiots currently in the media. Using the term Wuhan Flue WAS racist, and intentionally so on the part of the right. and it demonstrably added to the violent physical and upsetting verbal harassment of Asians.
And it is easily demonstrated that “cancel culture” is more often practiced on the right regardless of how they love to attribute it to the left. That said the removal of Russian composers from concert line-ups is undoubtedly temporary and symbolic. It also IS foolish, so Shapiro (like the classic broken clock) is right about that.
MarcyMayer
You wish you had even half of what his IQ is.
DCasey
This is beyond insane. The Met did continue to play Wagner during WW2. It banned performances of Madama Butterfly however ostensibly because it takes place in Nagasaki. Wagner was OK I guess because Hitler was only going after Jews, Gays and Gypsies. The Met did ban Wagner performances during WW1 however and there was a witch hunt against some major German singers.
nickedbeater
According to Putin, Tchaikovsky did not exist.
Putin claims that there are no gays in Russia.
Jim
Isn’t not playing Russian music a bit moronic?
Does it really do anything to help the brave people of Ukraine?
Olena Zelenska appeared on the cover of Vogue. Proves beauty and courage are a go together.
Paul2
I certainly do not condone what Putin is doing, but banning such beautiful music is a travisty. He had nothing to do with this, and Putin did nnot consult him. This is kinda silly. It doesn’t help.
THAT Steve
I’ve been boycotting Russian my whole life. Still, consider everyone out there is not as erudite as y’all. They hear ban/boycott Russian things and they go whole hog.
hansniemeijer
Anything Russian should be banned till the troops have left ALL of Ukraine. Russians DO know what happens in both Ukraine and Russia. Because conscript boys come home in body bags. A lot of Russians have loved ones in Ukraine. Not all Russians are brainwashed. Sanctions DO help. There is only way out: getting that fascist and his entourage out of the Kremlin!