Iosif Kotek

Iosif Iosifovich Kotek, also seen as Josef or Yosif (Russian: Иосиф Иосифович Котек, Iosif Iosifovič Kotek; 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1855 – 4 January 1885), was a Russian violinist and composer remembered for his association with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He assisted Tchaikovsky with technical issues in the writing of the solo part in his Violin Concerto in D. He was also probably his lover at some point, although he was not exclusively homosexual.

Iosif Kotek was born in Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine, in 1855. He studied violin under Jan Hřímalý at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was also a composition student of Tchaikovsky. From the outset, their attraction was mutual. He held Tchaikovsky's music in the highest regard, and he was the composer's favourite pupil.

Tchaikovsky was infatuated with his student—he called him "Kotik", Russian for tomcat—and it has been conjectured by some (and asserted unambiguously by others) that they became lovers. They certainly became physically very affectionate, as demonstrated in Tchaikovsky's 1876 letter to his brother Modest about Kotek: "When he caresses me with his hand, when he lies with his head inclined on my breast, and I run my hand through his hair and secretly kiss it ... passion rages within me with such unimaginable strength ... Yet I am far from the desire for a physical bond. I feel that if this happened, I would cool towards him. It would be unpleasant for me if this marvellous youth debased himself to copulation with an ageing and fat-bellied man."

Kotek graduated in 1876. At that time, a wealthy widow and patron named Nadezhda von Meck asked the conservatory to provide a violinist to join her household to play chamber music and other pieces. She had eleven children, and also had a large staff including personal physicians and various musicians.Nikolai Rubinstein recommended Kotek. Von Meck had already heard some of Tchaikovsky’s music, and liked it, and it was at Kotek’s suggestion that she contacted Tchaikovsky with a commission for some new violin pieces. Kotek also made her aware of Tchaikovsky's impecunious financial circumstances. Thus started what would become one of the most remarkable artistic liaisons in musical history, a period of 14 years during which she supported him financially to become a full-time composer with no need to teach to earn a living - but they were never to meet in person. For a period, Kotek played the role of an intermediary between Nadezhda and Tchaikovsky.

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