Tchaikovsky’s

• The Nutcracker is a popular ballet written by Russian-born Peter Tchaikovsky, based on a children’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (German title: Nussknacker und Mausekönig) written in 1816 byE. T. A. Hoffmann

• In the story, young Marie’s favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls.

• Although not successful in its first staging, The Nutcracker has become a perennial Christmas favorite.

• Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822), better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, composer, and music critic.

• He is the subject and hero of Jacques Offenbach's famous but fictitional opera The Tales of Hoffmann, and the author of the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the famous ballet The Nutcracker is based.

• For the ballet, Tchaikovsky would join forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty.

• The material Petipa chose was an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story by Alexandre Dumas called The Tale of the Nutcracker.[1]

• The plot of Hoffmann's story was greatly simplified for the two-act ballet; Hoffmann's tale contains a long flashback story within its main plot entitled The Tale of the Hard Nut, which explains how the Prince was turned into the Nutcracker. This had to be cut for the ballet.[4]

• Clara – a young girl, about 13 or 14 years old.• Her parents - wealthy and devoted to their

children.• Fritz – Clara’s bratty younger brother.• Herr Drosselmeyer – a mysterious uncle who is

also a magician/toymaker who dotes on his niece and nephew.

• The Nutcracker / Prince – An enchanted prince who has been transformed into a wooden Nutcracker doll.

• The Mouse King – an evil mouse who leads his army against the Nutcracker.

• The Sugar Plum Fairy – Queen of the Kingdom of the Toys.

• On Christmas Eve, Clara’s parents have invited friends and family over to their home for a party.

• The mysterious Herr Drosselmeyer arrives last, bringing several amazing gifts, including a handsome Nutcracker soldier for Clara.

• Her brother Fritz wants the soldier, but after grabbing it away from Clara, inadvertently breaks the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer binds up the doll’s arm, and comforts Clara.

• That night, after falling asleep with the Nutcracker in her arms, Clara dreams that she shrinks down to the size of a doll.

• Now as small as a toy, Clara is horrified to see several mice creep out of the walls who try to kidnap her.

• But Clara’s Nutcracker comes to life, and, marshaling the other toys into an army, battles the Mouse King and his forces.

• The Nutcracker is close to defeat, until Clara throws her shoe, striking the mouse King on the head, and killing him.

• With the Mouse King defeated, the Nutcracker’s curse is broken, and he changes back into a Prince.

• He then invites Clara to his home, where the Sugar-Plum Fairy rules over the Kingdom of the Toys.

• Composing The Nutcracker was a difficult experience for Tchaikovsky, and he judged his music to be inferior to previous ballets he had written.

• Petipa gave Tchaikovsky extremely detailed instructions for the composition of each number, down to the tempo and number of bars.[1] The composer did not appreciate having to work under such constraints and found himself reluctant to work on the ballet.[5]

• Also, Tchaikovsky's sister, Alexandra, died shortly before he began composition of The Nutcracker, which is believed influenced him to compose the melancholy, descending scale melody for the adagio of the “Grand Pas de Deux.”

• Despite these obstacles, The Nutcracker is one of the Tchaikovsky’s most popular compositions.

• The music belongs to the Romantic Period and contains some of his most memorable melodies, several of 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.

Sound Samples

Waltz of the Flowers

Trepak (Russian Dance)

Tea (Chinese Dance)

March

Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

Dance of the Reed Pipes

Grand Pas de deux

• The ballet contains surprisingly advanced harmonies and a wealth of melodic invention that is (to many) unsurpassed in ballet music.

• Part of its appeal is the variety of music Tchaikovsky composed, with music written for Russian, Chinese, Arabian and Spanish dancers, as well as musical themes devoted to Chocolate, Snowflakes, Coffee, Tea, and Flowers!

• He also accepted a challenge from a friend to write a theme based on the eight-note octave scale, (which became the “Grand Pas de deux”) and introduced a new instrument, the Celesta (which he snuck into Russia), for the striking bell-like “Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy”.

• Although The Nutcracker enjoys wide-spread success now, it was considered a failure at it’s premiere on December 18, 1892.

• Critics chided the use of children in the original production, and thought the story was not faithful to Hoffman’s original.

• But during the Twentieth Century, productions of The Nutcracker flourished around the world, and Tchaikovsky’s magnificent music, the fairy-tale like story, and Christmas spectacle of the ballet brought new fame.

• It is now considered by many to be the most-loved ballet of all time.

• With the increased popularity of the ballet, the story and music of The Nutcracker has been adapted to film many times, first, in Disney’s Fantasia (click for video)

• In 1993 with child star Macauley Culkin (of Home Alone fame) (click for video)

• In 1986 in a production designed by Maurice Sendak (who wrote and illustrated Where The Wild Things Are); (click for video)

• Most recently in 2010 as The Nutcracker: The Untold Story (click for trailer)

• There have also been several animated versions made, with everyone from Tom & Jerry to Barbie!

A Nutsy The Squirrel Production

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• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_Petipa• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._T._A._Hoffmann

• Music• Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker; Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker;

EMI Classics, 2010.