This volume considers the music and biography of Tchaikovsky, with an emphasis on his later life and influences. The text includes some of Tchaikovsky's own writings about music, as well as three articles from the 1993 Tubingen conference commemorating the centennial of Tchaikovsky's death. The first part of the book includes an examination of the world of realist art that was so influential in Tchaikovsky's day, and insights into Tchaikovsky's influence on the next generation of artists. The second part of the book presents findings from archival explorations in the composer's home of Klin, Russia, and the third part of the book includes Nikolai Kashkin's 1879 review of Tchaikovsky's controversial opera Orleanskaia Deva (The Maid of Orleans).