Nutcracker Suite

Tchaikovsky in 1893

The Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Coqueluche in The Nutcracker, St. Petersburg, c. 1900

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The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a is a selection of 8 musical numbers Tchaikovsky made from The Nutcracker ballet for a concert performance before the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society on March 19, 1892.^[1] Every number was acclaimed and repeated, and the suite became an instant hit.^[2] The complete ballet was first performed on December 17, 1892. It was not a success. It did not gain any popularity until George Balanchine staged a production in New York City.^[3] The suite however was very popular in concert. It was featured in Disney's Fantasia. The Nutcracker Suite should not be mistaken for the complete ballet.

The numbers chosen by Tchaikovsky for The Nutcracker Suite and their sequence within the suite are as follows:

I. Miniature Overture

II. Danses caractéristiques

a. Marche

b. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy [ending altered from ballet-version]

c. Russian Dance (Trepak)

d. Arabian Dance

e. Chinese Dance

f. Reed-Flutes

III. Waltz of the Flowers

Nutcracker Suite Media

(Left to right) Lydia Rubtsova as Marianna, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz, in the original production of The Nutcracker (Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, 1892)
Varvara Nikitina as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Pavel Gerdt as the Cavalier, in a later performance in the original run of The Nutcracker, 1892
Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original costume sketch for The Nutcracker (1892)
Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of The Nutcracker (1892)
Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original costume designs for Mother Gigogne and her Polichinelle children, 1892
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 1- Miniature Overture.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_1-_Miniature_Overture
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 2- March.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_2-_March
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 5- Arab Dance.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_5-_Arab_Dance
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 6- Chinese Dance.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_6-_Chinese_Dance
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 4- Trepak- Russian Dance.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_4-_Trepak-_Russian_Dance
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 7- Dance Of The Mirlitons.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_7-_Dance_Of_The_Mirlitons
P.I. Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers Performed by The U.S. Army Band, c. 2019
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker Suite- 3- Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies.ogg

Peter_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky-_Nutcracker_Suite-_3-_Dance_Of_The_Sugar_Plum_Fairies
Excerpt of concert performance of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Trepak" by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Vladislav Lavrik [ru]

References

↑ Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, p. 544
↑ "Full text of "Men Of Music Their Lives Times And Achievements"". Archive.org. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
↑ "The Nutcracker Profile: The History of The Nutcracker". Classicalmusic.about.com. 11 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

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[1] Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, p. 544

[2] "Full text of "Men Of Music Their Lives Times And Achievements"". Archive.org. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

[3] "The Nutcracker Profile: The History of The Nutcracker". Classicalmusic.about.com. 11 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

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