CHAPTER 42
Poetry in Motion: Tchaikovsky and the Ballet
OVERVIEW
This chapter discusses Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker within the ballet traditions of Europe, and
more centrally within the independent form of ballet cultivated in Russia during the mid-to-late
1800s.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the independent form of nineteenth-century ballet and its roots in the
historical dancing traditions of France and later of Russia at St. Petersburg
2. To recognize Tchaikovsky as the leading composer of late nineteenth-century Russian ballet
and his 1892 ballet The Nutcracker as an exemplar of his achievements in this art form
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Show your students video clips of examples of French court ballet choreography from the
seventeenth or eighteenth centuries and from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Engage your
students in a discussion about the changes in ballet choreography from earlier times to
Tchaikovsky’s time.
2. Explore with your class the diversity of instrumental ensembles that Tchaikovsky employed
in the different numbers of the ballet suite, even beyond the two excerpts in the Listening
Guide (March; Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; Trepak; Arab Dance; Chinese Dance;
Dance of the Toy Flutes; Waltz of the Flowers). How do these diverse ensembles contribute
in characterizing the scenes and narratives associated with the movements?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Locate two or three different productions of The Nutcracker online. What do you consider
the strengths and deficiencies of each version? How does each version reflect the attitudes
and emotions expressed in the music and the choreography?
2. “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”
This quote from Martha Graham (p. 234 of the textbook) alludes to the power of dance by
invoking the spirit of Romanticism. After reviewing the tenets of Romanticism as explored
in earlier chapters, how do you think an art form like ballet fitted into this pervasive
nineteenth-century movement? How does Tchaikovsky’s ballet music align itself within the
parameters of Romanticism?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Students are likely unfamiliar with the celesta (in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker). Introduce this
instrument with images, videos, or, better yet, a demonstration if one is available.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fisher, Jennifer. Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in
the New World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. On the legacy of
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker in the North American imagination.
Wiley, Roland John. Tchaikovsky’s Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1991. Features musical analyses and production background on the first
performances of Tchaikovsky’s three famous ballets.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Poetry in Motion: Tchaikovsky and the Ballet (Chapter 42)
I. The Ballet
A. Renaissance
1. ballet central to lavish festivals, theatrical entertainments
a. presented at courts of kings, dukes
2. royal weddings, celebrations: spectacles with scenery, costumes, staged dancing
a. Italy: intermedio
b. England: masque
c. France: ballet de cour
B. 18th century: ballet became independent art form
C. 19th century: France and Russia preeminent
1. Marius Petipa, Russian choreographer: structure for pas de deux
II. Tchaikovsky and The Nutcracker
A. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
1. Russian composer
2. son of government official
3. age 23, entered Conservatory of St. Petersburg
4. taught 12 years at Moscow Conservatory
5. extremely sensitive nature, prone to depression
6. social pressures, homosexual, married a student
7. Nadezhda von Meck: wealthy widow, became his patron
8. fame in Europe and United States
a. 1891: conducted opening of Carnegie Hall, New York City
9. output: 3 ballets: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker; 7
symphonies, 4 concertos, chamber music, choral music, songs
B. The Nutcracker
1. based on E. T. A. Hoffman story
a. Christmas party
b. Clara receives Nutcracker from her godfather
c. Clara dreams Nutcracker becomes her Prince
d. travel through magical realm, exoticism
2. choreographed by Petipa
C. Listening Guide 31: Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, Two Dances (1892)
1. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
a. A-B-A, bouncy duple meter (andante tempo)
b. introduction: pizzicato strings
c. A section: celesta, bell-like timbre
d. B section: brief, woodwinds and celesta answered by strings
e. closes with loud pizzicato chord
2. Trepak (Russian Dance)
a. A-B-A, molto vivace (very lively)
b. lively peasant dance, tambourine featured
c. descending melody with sforzandos (heavy accents)
d. accelerando to end, trumpet fanfare, syncopations