Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Suite from "The Nutcracker" Op. 71

1. Overture Miniature
2. March
3. Danse de la Fee Dragee
4. Danse Russe - Trepak
5. Danse Arabe
6. Danse Chinoise
7. Danse des Mirlitons
8. Valse des fleurs

"The Nutcracker", Tchaikovsky’s third and last ballet, was composed in 1891-2. The story was taken from a novella by the German fantasy - writer, E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776 - 1822), who had already inspired works by composers as diverse as Schumann, Offenbach, and Delibes. Tchaikovsky greatly admired Delibes’ ballet "Coppélia" (1870), and this may have inspired him to write a Hoffmann-based ballet. Delibes had emphasised the colourful, light-hearted aspects of Hoffmann’s story; one would scarcely guess from the ballet’s frivolous plot and charming music that it was based on one of the most grotesque horror stories in German literature. In turn, Tchaikovsky, whose own life had had more than a fair share of darkness and tragedy, took the lightest aspects of Hoffmann’s tale to create a ballet of exquisite sweetness and colour. For him, the world of ballet was equated with fairy-tales, fantasy, and the happiness of childhood, and it is this very happiness and innocence - combined with Tchaikovsky’s unsurpassed genius for melody - which has made "The Nutcracker" the best-loved ballet of all time.

The two-act scenario tells of how two children, Fritz and Clara, are given a variety of presents on Christmas Eve, including a Nutcracker in the shape of a man. After all have retired to bed, Clara comes downstairs, discovers the Nutcracker and the other toys have come to life, witnesses a battle between them and an army of mice, and then saves the Nutcracker as he is about to be defeated by the King of the Mice. The Nutcracker promptly turns into a handsome prince and offers Clara a trip to his kingdom as a reward. Act Two of the ballet is concerned with Clara’s visit to Confiturenburg, the Kingdom of Sweets, and the entertainment which is provided for her there.

It is from Act Two that most of the music in the Suite we hear tonight is drawn. Inspired by the characters who entertain in the Kingdom of Sweets, the variety of orchestral colour is remarkable and, together with Tchaikovsky’s unique flair for melody, is responsible for much of the charm of the music. After the Miniature Overture, we hear the March from the children’s party, and the remaining numbers are dances from the entertainment in the Kingdom of Sweets. The Danse de la Fee Dragee (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, or, more properly, the Sugared Almond Fairy!) features the celeste, which had only just been invented and which Tchaikovsky had heard during a visit to Paris. The energetic Danse Russe (Russian Dance), contrasting Arab Dance, and the Danse Chinoise (Chinese Dance) in which the flutes and piccolo trill over the steady beat of the pizzicato strings, follow. The Suite ends with the Dance of the Mirlitons in which the flutes play the parts of the mirlitons (toy reed pipes), and the final luxurious Waltz of the Flowers.

Adapted by R.G.Bratby


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