To console them, Drosselmeyer gives them a huge Nutcracker in the form of a soldier, which enchants Clara. The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky Research Presto, 16. Written in the early 1890s, this was the last ballet score Tchaikovsky wrote - he died less than a year after it was premiered. Updates? The story was based on a children's fairy tale by E. T. A. Hoffmann, adapted by Alexandre Dumas . MUS 110 Ch 42 Listening Study Guide: LG 31 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker There are many traditional nutcracker producers in the Ore Mountain region, which makes up the natural borderland between Germany and the Czech Republic. 71 (TH 14; W 14), is a fairy ballet in 2 acts and 3 scenes, written and orchestrated by Tchaikovsky between February 1891 and April 1892. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, led by Drosselmeyer, fly through the clouds in the Chestnut Shell Boat and arrive at the gates of Candy Kingdom. As weve seen before, Tchaikovsky showing his forceful side at his best, knowing how to create excitement, and build it up to a thrilling ending. Many people this holiday season will experience the joy of attending a local performance of "The Nutcracker" ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky Research The piece is also referred to as the Russian dance and is part of the . On 27 February/11 March, after sketching the night scene (Clara's vision), Tchaikovsky wrote: "Here I am leaving out a lot, up to the Waltz of the Snowflakes". The nutcracker quickly becomes a main character in the ballet. It was presented at St. Petersburgs Mariinsky Theatre on a double bill with Tchaikovskys one-act opera, Iolanta. Well, each has their own dance music. Tchaikovsky certainly admired the dark fantasy of Hoffmanns original, and may have been disappointed by Dumass tamer version. Together they travel to the land of snow and the two dance together as snow falls all around them. Petipa, having (rather grudgingly, one suspects) cast the roles of Clara, her brother Fritz and the Nutcracker with students from the theatre school, then inconveniently (or possibly conveniently from his point of view) fell ill just as the ballet went into rehearsal. Hoffmann fantasy story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. Each one has up to 60 parts which are made of locally sourced spruce and beech wood. Traditional nutcrackers typically took on the attributes of figures of authority, such as kings, soldiers, forest guards or policemen. As a result, Tchaikovsky, who had already written music for other ballets including Swan Lake, composed a series of movements musically illustrating different parts of the story. By April, having composed Nutcrackers overture and first five numbers, as well as the Waltz of the Snowflakes, he had reached the end of his tether. Tchaikovsky stayed in Rouen until 5/17 April. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is based on a short story written by a German author, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman, called "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". Indeed, he omitted the battle scene between the mice and toys, and start of the second scene of Act Idepicting the forest at nightand instead the composer went on to the Waltz of the Snowflakes. The Classic Christmas Story Ballet. As angels and delightful music hover over their heads, the bed turns into a magical sleigh, floating higher and higher. The entire court joins in the final waltz, and the curtain falls on a final tribute to Clara [8]. (LogOut/ - Definition, Types & Artists, What is Funk Music? From their correspondence, and from Petipas original choreographic plan, we know that Vsevolozhsky originally intended to have the children perform a series of national dances in costumes presented as Christmas gifts in Act I. On the same day he wrote to Praskovya Tchaikovskaya: "Work is proceeding intensively, and I'm glad that my travels are over" [37]. I floated away from America on 20th May [O.S.] The Nutcracker Ballet: Composer, Music & Story | Study.com Tchaikovsky and Vsevolozhsky had planned from the outset that children would play a major role in The Nutcracker, a highly unusual and controversial decision for that time. From an early age, Tchaikovsky had relished stage works involving magic or fantasy such as Webers Der Freischtz and Mozarts Don Giovanni. Beside a river of rose water, Clara and the Prince appear and are welcomed in the Great Hall of the palace. Beethoven Symphony No. Next: Wrap-up of Tchaikovsky, and further suggested listening. The titles of numbers in French (italic type) and Russian (Cyrillic) are taken from the published score, with English translations added in bold type. The Nutcracker is a classic Christmas tale first adapted by Alexandre Dumas from E.T.A. 17 chapters | Ravel Piano Concerto in G, II. The suite includes "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", the "Russian Dance", "Arabian Dance", "Chinese Dance", "Dance of the Reed Flutes", and the "Waltz of the Flowers". At the head of the opening Scene (Act II, No. The libretto was compiled by Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa [6], after the story of Histoire d'un Casse-Noisette (1845) by Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), which was an adaptation from the German of Der Nuknacker und Mauseknig (1816) by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) [7]. Fritz hears the noise of the nuts cracking, and tries to seize the nutcracker. He's a skilled clock and toymaker and he comes with gifts for the children. Published in Germany in 1851, his illustrated tale was titled "King Nutcracker or The Dream of Poor Reinhold," and told the story of a poor child who dreams of the "Fairy Town of Toys" and meets the "Nutcracker King with royal jaws.". Are we floating? You really have to be in the theater to get the full experience of the work, but the music to this ballet holds very strongly on its own, often performed in a reduced version as The Nutcracker Ballet Suite, which contains excerpts of the full ballet music, but re-tailored to better fit a concert program. On 2/14 June the composer wrote to Anna Merkling: "At this moment my work is coming along very successfully" [36]. The dolls spring to life, and gingerbread soldiers left over from tea begin to march to and fro. Inspired by a discovery he made in Paris, he wrote to his publisher about a new orchestral instrument, something between a small piano and a glockenspiel with a divinely marvellous sound It is called the Celesta Mustel and it costs 1,200 francs I would like to ask you to order this instrument. The Nutcracker is about an adventure taken on by a young girl, Clara, and a life-sized nutcracker that has come to life. Russian Musical Society. The nutcracker acquired its iconic status through a globalized transmission of popular culture. In Paris, where Tchaikovsky arrived on 10/22 March, work on the ballet did not come easily. The music in "The Nutcracker" was composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. A. The Christmas-tree grows enormously in size. Even the artist Alexandre Benois, who admired Vsevolozhsky and later inspired Diaghilev to follow his example, found the battle scene quite senseless and amateurish.. - Definition & Characteristics, Motown Records: Founder, History & Artists, What is a Chorus in a Song? Check out the big harp cadenza in the beginning im sure that this passage has become an almost archetypal idea of the sound of the harp, if that makes any sense. Nutcracker Story - The Nutcracker "Waltz of the Flowers" is another relatively high tempo song, played in tempo di valse, meaning waltz tempo. Learn About the Ballet "The Nutcracker" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky She serves on the music faculty of Metropolitan State University of Denver and gives pre-performance talks for Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The original story was more dark and disturbing, with choreographer Marius Petipa deciding to take a lighter approach to Clara's Christmastime dream when adapting it for the stage. "The Nutcracker Suite" is a compilation of several songs. Hoffmann. But their gauntlet was triumphantly taken up in the 20th century, particularly in the US, with its love of child-friendly fantasies such as The Wizard of Oz, and in Soviet Russia where investment in young talent resulted, and still continues, in producing many fine child dancers. The Waltz of the Snowflakes (Act I, No. 8 in the sketchbook is the date: ", Sketches for Act II were begun in a separate copy-book; it seems probable that all sketches for Act I were completed in, International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), The Tchaikovsky Handbook. Eventually staged in Moscows Bolshoi Theatre in 1877, where it was hobbled with mediocre choreography and indifferently danced, its music nonetheless stood head and shoulders above the usual run of ballet scores. The tool is designed to crack open all sorts of nuts, and usually resembles a pair of pliers. After the Land of Snow, Clara, and the prince travel, by boat, to the Land of the Sweets. 71a 2. After finding it, Clara falls asleep with the nutcracker in her arms and begins a long, mystical dream. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. Tchaikovsky probably wouldn't have believed that his ballet would one day become an international success, and sadly he did not live long enough to find out. Hoffmann wrote the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" in 1816. At the time, it was met with lackluster reviews, but it is now a popular Christmas ballet. According to Britannica, the plot is loosely based off "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," a fantasy story written by E.T.A. The ballet was inspired by "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," published in 1815 by the German author E.T.A. The old man is evidently declining. First performance: 19 March 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia. Somebody had the idea of casting young members of a military academy to play the toy soldiers who, it seems, got carried away attacking the mice with their toy rifles cue pandemonium. The Nutcracker is transformed into a prince and Clara into a princess. But the composer did not write the music for this scene straight away, noting down only a few sketches eventually used for the gallop, beside the note: "This is the start of the coda, composed during a stroll in Piter [Petersburg]". William Christensen's production with the San Francisco Ballet on 24 December 1944 was the first complete performance in the United States. The beard and hair is usually rabbit fur. Yet The Nutcracker has become the most beloved of all ballets, a regular Christmas production on almost every major stage, especially in the United States where it has become as much a part of American tradition as the German Christmas tree. Why We Love "The Nutcracker" - Foundation for Economic Education I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. He brings with him several gifts including a toy train and toy soldiers for Clara and her brother, Fritz. He is what the French call vieu jeu [16]. Nine o'clock strikes, on a clock consisting of an owl which flaps its wings at each stroke. ", Create an account to start this course today. A waltz for the Sugar-Plum Fairy's attendants, is followed by a Pas de deux for the Prince and the Sugar-Plum fairy. 71a 7. Heinrich Hoffmann, best known as the creator of the children's book "Der Struwwelpeter" (Shaggy Peter), also wrote his own version of E.T.A Hoffmann's story. This is the final farewell to the prince from the Sugar Plum Fairy. The children burst into the room with some friends, and all join in a lively march round the room, before breaking into a galop. This cheerful ornament inspired by the classic holiday story features the Nutcracker's face complete with mustache, while his tall red soldier's hat features delicate gold embroidery for that classic Christmas feel you love. The ballet proper debuted in December of that year. In a letter to a friend, Tchaikovsky himself remarked, Apparently the opera gave pleasure, but the ballet not really; and, as a matter of fact, in spite of all the sumptuousness it did turn out to be rather boring. He thought little of it, describing it as infinitely worse than Sleeping Beauty. The reference was to the second of his three ballets; the first had been Swan Lake. We cant be certain, as no correspondence from this early stage in The Nutcrackers creation has been found: possibly as was the case with Sleeping Beauty Tchaikovsky initially discussed the project face-to-face with Vsevolozhsky without a formal contract. It is not possible to establish the exact date on which work on the sketches was begun. After WWII, the family business quickly grew by developing contacts with US soldiers based in the Hanover area who brought back nutcrackers to their families as original German souvenirs. The mice, led by The Mouse King, battle with the soldiers, now led by The Nutcracker. A famous ballet. Tap genius Michelle Dorrance puts her stamp on the famous Christmas ballet---There is a cornucopia of Nutcrackers twirling all over New York this holiday season, but none as exuberant as Michelle Dorrance's tap-dancing take on the Christmas staple. Germany is a leading manufacturer of traditional nutcrackers. 22" (on Marius Petipa's plan No. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Act I, No. According to legend, a rich farmer who was too lazy to crack his own nuts promised to reward his entire village if anyone came up with a solution. Had Tchaikovsky and Vsevolozhsky badly miscalculated? Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is based on the short story by ETA Hoffman called "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." Set to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's jazzy interpretation of Tchaikovsky's iconic score, The Nutcracker Suite is the largest work Dorrance's . here he employed an authentic folk song [42]. The wealthy Stahlbaum family, including daughter Clara and son Fritz, is having a Christmas party in their beautifully decorated mansion. It's this version that was turned into a ballet. Not only is his hair thinning and turning silver as snow, not only are his teeth falling out and refusing to chew food, not only are his eyes weakening and becoming easily tired, not only are his feet starting to drag rather than walkbut his singular remaining faculty is starting to fade and disappear. The great success of Sleeping Beauty, involving the close collaboration between Vsevolozhsky, Tchaikovsky and the legendary choreographer Marius Petipa, inevitably prompted Vsevolozhsky to plan a sequel from the same team. The newspapers reviled Tchaikovsky, and he did not live to see the piece succeed. So, how did this ballet come about? Tchaikovsky's original score contains an overture and 15 numbers. The fact the ballet involves some of his most inventive and evocative orchestration is merely, they say, to disguise the poverty of his invention: witness the short-breathed and exceedingly simple character of several of the ballets themes, and the fact Tchaikovsky supplemented these with so many borrowed themes for instance, the Arabian Dance based on a Georgian lullaby. I want to pass on to you some ideas for the ballet, which do not fit in with Petipa's scheme. The celebrations include the "Waltz of Flowers" and the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.". The Nutcracker () [1], Op. Everyone then bids the nutcracker and Clara goodnight, and the wonderful scene disappears. 52) [view]. Early in 1891, Tchaikovsky was working against the clock to compose both Nutcracker and an opera with which it was to be double-billed, Yolanta, before an imminent tour in the US. It was considerably later that Tchaikovsky set about the instrumentation of the ballet, in January 1892, after he had already orchestrated the opera. He goes to the dead Mouse King and . The Nutcracker is presented by Texture Ballet School and will feature our talented students dancing the roles of the stunning Sugar Plum Fairy down to the tiniest of Bon Bons; the twinkle in their eyes and the flutter in the feet will light up the stage! After a final waltz between the fairy and her cavalier, Clara awakes to find herself by the Christmas tree with her nutcracker. Now I have started to work" [34]. Un-scientifically, The "1812 Overture" and "The Nutcracker" ballet music probably hold 2 of the top 5 of this measure (at least on a "highlights from" basis). There they witness many wonderful dances from all over the world, highlighted by the sugar plum fairy herself dancing with a regal cavalier. The arrangement of the sketches allows us to infer the order in which the music was writtenthe composer adhered to the essence of Marius Petipa's plan, indicating any deviations from it in his notebook. Reception to the ballet was mixed when it opened in 1892, but now it is one of the most popular ballets in the world. Petipa had fallen ill, and the choreography was instead devised by his less-inspired assistant.