Victim of the strict morals and social prejudices of his time, the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky spent his entire life trying to keep his unique sexuality secret, which became a source of inspiration and suffering for him.

Thus, the title of his last and greatest symphony, which musically expresses his desperate and unrequited love for the young Russian prince Dolgoruki, can be considered as condensed representation of his life's drama, as his life was truly and painfully an unparalleled "Pathetique Symphony".