CIAIKOVSKI (ČAJKOVSKIJ), PIOTR'ILIĆ. - Russian musician, b. at Votkinsk on 7 May 1840, d. at Petersburg on 6 Nov. 1893. He studied law and at the age of 20 was a government employee; he attended the composition courses at the Petersburg conservatory under Rubinstein, graduating in 1865. A teacher at the Moscow conservatory from 1866 to 1879, he travelled and lived extensively abroad.
He wrote several theatrical works, orchestral pieces, songs, choral works, and a Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (1878, op. 41, Russian Mass), composed with the intention of restoring sacred music to the purity of the ancient ecclesiastical modes. It was successfully performed in concerts at the Moscow conservatory. He also wrote 17 religious songs for choir based on ancient liturgical melodies (1882, op. 52), 6 cherubic songs (1885), and 6 sacred hymns (1885). In 1882 he edited the critical edition of the Opera omnia of Bortnianski, the distinguished Russian composer of sacred music.