978-0393639032 Chapter 46

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9. output: 3 ballets: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty,

and The Nutcracker; 8 operas, 7 symphonies, 4

concertos, chamber music, choral music, songs

B. The Nutcracker

1. based on E. T. A. Hoffmann story

a. Christmas party

b. Clara and Fritz receive Nutcracker from their

godfather

c. Clara dreams Nutcracker becomes a hand–

some Prince

d. travel through magical realm, exoticism

2. choreographed by Marius Petipa

C. LG 38: 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 (Rus sian Dance)

a. A– B- A, molto vivace

b. lively peasant dance, tambourine featured

c. descending melody with sforzandos (heavy

accents)

d. accelerando to end, trumpet fanfare,

syncopations

OVERVIEW

This chapter grounds the ballets of Tchaikovsky in the

historical dancing traditions of France and the imperial

Rus sian ballet at St.Petersburg in the mid-1800s. Tchai–

OUTLINE

I. The Ballet

A. Historical antecedents

1. Re nais sance:

a. courts of kings, dukes: lavish festivals, theat-

rical entertainment

b. royal weddings, cele brations: spectacles with

scenery, costumes, staged dancing

i. Italy, intermedio; England, masque;

France, ballet de cour

2. Seveteenth century:

a. dancing at court of Louis XIV

b. ballets featured in French opera

B. In de pen dent dramatic form

1. Eigh teenth century: in de pen dent art form

2. Nineteenth century: France and Rus sia preeminent

3. Marius Petipa: French- born choreographer in

St.Petersburg

a. created hundreds of dances, stage ballet to

unpre ce dented heights

b. in ven ted structure of pas de deux

II. Tchaikovsky and The Nutcracker

A. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

1. Rus sian 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 Eu rope and United States

a. 1891: conducted opening of Car ne gie Hall,

New York City

CHAPTERfi46 Poetry in Motion: Tchaikovsky and the Ballet

184 | Chapterfi46

TEACHING CHALLENGES

Students are likely unfamiliar with the celesta; introduce this

instrument with images or videos, or better yet a demonstra-

tion if one is available.

Some students will be troubled by the obvious ethnic ste-

reo types in Act II of The Nutcracker. It may help to contex–

tualize these ste reo types with a broader discussion of the role

of exoticism in late nineteenth- century Rus sian music.

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beauty, Nutcracker. Oxford: Clarendon, 1991. Features musical

analyses and production background on the first per for mances

of Tchaikovsky’s three famous ballets.

YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE

Katherine Dunham, and Lil Buck. Note how the dancer var-

ies and repeats the movements, the variety of melodic ideas

in the music, and the way the music and movement are syn-

chronized. Do you think the dancer is conveying a story

MODEL RESPONSES

kovsk y’s Nutcracker testifies to the composer’s enduring

legacy as the giant of late nineteenth- century Rus sian

ballet.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To understand the in de pen dent form of nineteenth-

century ballet and its roots in the historical dancing tra-

ditions of France and later of Rus sia at St.Petersburg

2. To recognize Tchaikovsky as the leading composer of

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS

1. Show your students video clips of examples of French

2. Explore with your class the diversity of instrumental

ensembles that Tchaikovsky employed in the dif fer–

ent 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).

ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS

1. Locate two or three dif fer ent productions of The Nut–

2. “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”— Martha

Poetry in Motion: Tchaikovsky and the Ballet | 185

At the opening of this video clip, what is most noticeable

about these dancers after watching the Lil Buck video is

how similarly their footwork flows— gracefully and floating

as opposed to rhythmic and aggressive. The one difference

in the footwork is the athletic jumping of the ballet dancers,

which seems to tell the story of animated emotions, such as

the excitement of new love. Also in contrast to Lil Buck are

upper body often features pop- locking moves that are more

aligned to the mechanical rhythm of the drum beat. This

provides a visually compelling contrast between upper and

lower body, with his midsection often contorted and twisted

in flexible positions. This contrast is mirrored in the music,

with the strong and aggressive beat working with and

against the bendy and dreamy sound of the synth layers. The

visual backdrop of Lil Buck’s routine also suggests he’s tell-

186

CHAPTERfi47 Exotic Allure: Puccini and the Italian

Verismo Tradition

c. Pinkerton returns several years later with his

American wife

d. Pinkerton decides to take their son back to

Amer i ca

e. Butterfly takes her own life (hara– kiri)

4. exoticism in the music:

a. traditional Japa nese melodies

b. whole- tone and pentatonic scales

c. evokes Japa nese gagaku orchestra: harp, flute,

piccolo, bells

d. brief reference to The Star– Spangled Banner

D. LG 39: Puccini: “Un bel dì” (“One beautiful day”),

from Madame Buttery, Act II (1904)

1. Butterfly dreams of Pinkerton’s return

2. opening: ethereal voice accompanied by solo

violin

3. rich accompaniment, orchestra in unison with

voice

4. rising dynamics, emotional level builds

a. “l’aspetto” (“I wait for him”), orchestra plays fff

OVERVIEW

Puccini’s verismo operas are in line with the musical ideals

of the post- Romantic tradition. Madame Buttery illustrates

post– Romantic composers’ interest in exotic subjects and

musical effects, sensuous lyricism, and portrayals of realism.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To understand post- Romanticism as a movement nota-

ble for its inspired orchestral writing, sensuous lyricism,

portrayals of realism, and interest in exotic subjects

OUTLINE

I. Post– Romanticism

A. Expansion, intensification of late Romanticism

1. Germany, Austria, Italy

2. composers: Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss,

Gustav Mahler

II. Puccini and Verismo Opera

A. Verismo (realism) movement

1. subjects from everyday life

2. treated in down- to- earth fashion

3. counter parts in Germany, France

B. Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)

1. Italian composer; main voice of verismo

movement

2. son of a church organist

3. early success followed by misfortune

4. accessible style: bel canto– style soaring melo-

dies, rich orchestral timbres, leitmotifs

5. major works: La bohème, Tosca, Madame But–

tery, Turandot

6. output: 12 operas, choral works, songs, orches–

tral, chamber, and solo piano works

C. Madame Buttery

1. based on Pierre Loti’s tale, Madame

Chrysanthème

a. story of tragic- heroic female protagonist,

Cio– Cio– San (Madame Butterfly)

2. combines verismo and exoticism

a. exoticism: takes place in Japan

3. plot summary:

a. American naval officer, Pinkerton, marries

geisha, Cio- Cio- San

b. Pinkerton returns to US, Butterfly awaits his

return

the geisha. It may help to further contextualize the geisha

within Japa nese culture before moving forward with the story.

SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE

Find an example of con temporary music (for example, a

popu lar song) that is intended to evoke an exotic quality.

MODEL RESPONSE

attempt to evoke a par tic u lar style and, instead, attempted to

write a song fully immersed in the Indian classical style.

Inspired by his studies with Ravi Shankar, Harrison incorpo–

rated Indian instruments such as sitar and tabla into his set–

Indian classical style was likely an attempt to go beyond refer–

ences that could be seen or heard as clichéd ste reo types, and

2. To recognize Puccini’s Madame Buttery as a represen-

tative example of the post- Romantic style in Italy

3. To recognize Puccini’s Madame Buttery as an exemplar

of the end- of– the– century trends of verismo and exoticism

1. Introduce your students briefly to the subjects and nar–

ratives of the famous verismo operas by Puccini (La

bohème, Madame Buttery), Leoncavallo (I Pagliacci)

with its traditional Western counter parts. Then sample

some of the pentatonic- inflected melodies from Pucci-

ni’s Madame Buttery, emphasizing their exotic effect.

One striking example of Puccini’s use of exotic melodies

to portray a sonic image of the opera’s Japa nese setting is

heard during the wedding ceremony of Pinkerton and

ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS

y. Extend this comparison to the music: How does Japan

figure in dif fer ent and similar ways in these two works?

2. How does Puccini call on the orchestra to depict the

emotions of Cio- Cio- San in “Un bel dì”? Explore other

TEACHING CHALLENGES