ew weeks later he fled from Moscow, and when
next heard of was lying dangerously ill in St. Petersburg. One thing
was evident, the ill-considered marriage came very near ruining his
life. The doctors ordered rest and change of scene, and his brother
Modeste Ilyitch took him to Switzerland and afterward to Italy. The
peaceful life and change of scene did much to restore his shattered
nerves. Just at this time a wealthy widow lady, Madame von Meek, a
great admirer of Tschaikowsky's music, learning of his sad condition,
settled on him a generous yearly allowance for life. He was now
independent and could give his time to composition.

The following year he returned to Moscow and seemed quite his natural
self. A fever of energy for work took possession of him. He began a
new opera, "Eugen Onegin," and completed his Fourth Symphony, in F
minor. The score of the opera was finished in February, 1878, and
sent at once to Moscow, where the first performance was given in March
1879. In the beginning the opera had only a moderate success, but
gradually grew in favor till, after five years, it was performed
in St. Petersburg and had an excellent reception. It is considered
Tschaikowsky's most successful opera, sharing with Glinka's "Life of
the Tsar" the popularity of Russian opera. In 1881 he was invited
to compose an orchestral work for the consecration of the Temple of
Christ in Moscow. The "Solemn Overture 1812," Op. 49, was the outcome
of this. Later in the year he completed the Second Piano Concerto.
The Piano Trio in A minor, "To the memory of a great artist," Op.
50, refers to his friend and former master, Nicholas Rubinstein, who
passed away in Paris, in 1881.

Tschaikowsky's opera, "Mazeppa," was his next important work. In the
same year the Second Orchestral Suite, Op. 53, and the Third, Op. 55,
followed. Two Symphonic Poems, "Manfred" and "Hamlet" came next. The
latter of these was written at the composer's country house, whose
purchase had been made possible by the generosity of his benefactress,
and to which he retired at the age of forty-five, to lead a peaceful
country life. He had purchased the old manor house of Frovolo, on the
outskirts of the town of Klin, near Moscow. Here his two beautiful
ballets and two greatest Symphonies, the Fifth and Sixth, were
written. The Fifth Symphony was composed in 1888 and published the
next year. On its first hearing it made little impression and was
scarcely heard again till