Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
In the spring of 1891 he was invited to conduct in New York where the Carnegie Hall was being opened. He also conducted concerts in Baltimore and Philadelphia. When he returned to Russia he wrote his last ballet The Nutcracker and his Sixth Symphony, known as the “Pathétique” which was dedicated to his nephew with whom he was passionately in love. This work is often considered his best. It was performed in St Petersburg on October 16 1893.  Five days later he suddenly became ill with cholera, a disease many people were catching in the city. Tchaikovsky died four days later. Many people think that he committed suicide by deliberately drinking contaminated water. He may have wanted to (or even been forced to) commit suicide in order to avoid a scandal because he was having a relationship with a nephew of an important aristocratic man. Exactly what happened is still a mystery.