Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' as performed by Maya Plisetskaya as Odette and Nikolai Fadeyechev as Prince Siegfried. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), was a great Russian composer whose works included symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets, chamber music, and a choral setting of the Russiandegree Orthodox Divine Liturgy. Some of these are among the most popular theatrical music in the classical repertoire. 1950s Supplied By: SCRSS - Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies