He trained as a civil servant
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Tchaikovsky: Compositions, ballets, biography and more facts
4. He trained as a civil servant
As a back-up plan, Tchaikovsky trained as a civil servant in case his musical career didn't take off. At the age of 19, he started in the civil service. He became a junior assistant within six months and a senior assistant two months after that, but luckily gave up his civil service career in order to compose!
