The Nutcracker
from the Loyal Ballet
based on a story by ETA Hoffman
music by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik) Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three tableaux, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891–92, and based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (German: Der Nussknacker und der Mäusekönig), a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816). Alexandre Dumas père's adaptation of the story was set to music by Tchaikovsky (after a libretto possibly written by Marius Petipa and commissioned by the administrator of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky in 1891).age:[In Western countries, this ballet has become perhaps the most popular ballet performed, primarily around Christmas time. A selection of eight of the more popular numbers from the ballet was made by the composer before the ballet's December 1892 premiere, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society[1]. The suite became instantly popular; the complete ballet did not achieve its great popularity until around the mid-1960s. Some indication of how much The Nutcracker Suite once eclipsed the fame of the ballet may be found in Deems Taylor's commentary in the roadshow version of Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Fantasia, which features the suite as one of the animated segments. Taylor observes matter-of-factly, "[The ballet] isn't performed anymore", a statement which certainly does not hold true today, and, indeed, has not been true since the mid-1950s, when George Balanchine's production achieved great popularity in New York. Among other things, the score of The Nutcracker is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic poem The Voyevoda (premiered 1891).^ Although well-known in The Nutcracker as the featured solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Act II, it is employed elsewhere in the same act. Story
The story has been published in many book versions including colorful children-friendly versions. The plot revolves around a German girl named Clara Stahlbaum or Clara Silverhaus. In some Nutcracker productions, Clara is called Marie. (In Hoffmann's tale, the girl's name actually is Marie or Maria, while Clara - or "Klärchen" - is the name of one of her dolls.) The Music
The music in Tchaikovsky's ballet is some of the composer's most popular. The music belongs to the Romantic Period and contains some of his most memorable melodies which are frequently used in television and film. The Trepak, or Russian dance, is one of the most recognizable pieces in the ballet, along with the famous Waltz of the Flowers and March, as well as the ubiquitous Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, which can be heard in several commercials during the Christmas season. The ballet contains surprisingly advanced harmonies and a wealth of melodic invention unsurpassed in ballet music. Nevertheless, the composer's reverence for Rococo and late 18th-century music can be detected in passages such as the Overture, the "Entrée des parents," and "Tempo di Grossvater" in Act I. One novelty in Tchaikovsky's original score was the use of the celesta, a new instrument Tchaikovsky had discovered in Paris. He wanted it genuinely for the character of the Sugar-Plum Fairy to characterize her because of its "heavenly sweet sound". It appears not only in her "Dance," but also in other passages in Act II. Tchaikovsky also uses toy instruments during the Christmas party scene. Tchaikovsky was proud of the celesta's effect, and wanted its music performed quickly for the public, before he could be "scooped." Everyone was enchanted. Suites derived from this ballet became very popular on the concert stage. The composer himself extracted a suite of eight pieces from the ballet, but that authoritative move has not prevented later hands from arranging other selections and sequences of numbers. Eventually one of these ended up in Disney's Fantasia. In any case, The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet.
Although the original ballet is only 90 minutes long, and therefore much shorter than Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty, some modern staged performances have omitted or re-ordered some of the music, or inserted selections from elsewhere, thus adding to the confusion over the suites. In fact, most of the very famous versions of the ballet have had the order of the dances slightly re-arranged, if they have not actually altered the music.
The ballet
Numbers given according to the piano score from the Soviet collected edition of the composer's works, as reprinted Melville, NY: Belwin Mills [n.d.], in English where possible, with explanations added here in square brackets). Overture Act One
Tableau I 1. Scene of decorating and lighting the Christmas tree
2. March
3. Little Gallop [of the children] and entry of the parents
4. Scene dansante [Drosselmeyer's arrival and distribution of presents]
5. Scene and dance of the Grandfather
6. Scene [Departure of the guests -- night]
7. Scene [the battle]
Tableau II
8. Scene [a pine forest in winter]
9. Waltz of the Snowflakes
Act Two
Tableau III
10. Scene [Introduction]
11. Scene [Arrival of Clara and the Prince]
12. Divertissement
a. Chocolate (Spanish dance)
b. Coffee (Arabian dance)
c. Tea (Chinese dance)
d. Trepak (Russian Dance)
e. Dance of the Mirlitons [also known as "Dance of the Reed-Flutes," "Dance of the Shepherdesses," and "Marzipan"]
f. Mother Ginger and the clowns [or "Mother Ginger and her children"]
13. Waltz of the Flowers [featuring the "Dew Drops" in Balanchine's production]
14. Pas de Deux: Adagio (Sugar-Plum Fairy and a cavalier)
Variation I (for the male dancer) [Tarantella]
Variation II (for the female dancer) [Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy]
Coda
15. Final Waltz and Apotheosis
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