Jasmin Dowling

Dr. Breene

Music History II

8 April 2024

Program Notes on Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker

Pyotr Il′yich Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular Romantic Russian composers.

Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 and died in 1893. Tchaikovsky spent most of his early life in St.

Petersburg, Russia, which was a popular musical center that contained Russian opera and ballet,

and he later studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory as he aspired to be a professional

musician, unlike most Russian musicians of his time. Tchaikovsky traveled across Europe and

Russia, where he reinforced the Western elements of his compositional techniques. His skills in

composition grew, in his life he focused on operas, symphonies, songs, concertos, string quartets,

and his most famous genre, ballet. Tchaikovsky utilized elements of the Romantic era he lived in,

such as programmatic music, where there is an extramusical story within the music being played.

Tchaikovsky’s compositions were well loved while he was alive and after he died, as his

professional skills and personal experiences heightened his compositions level of expression and

storytelling.

The Nutcracker is a ballet, a theatrical genre where dancing and instrumental music

conveys a story being told. It features an orchestra that musically enhances the dancing that takes

place on stage. It premiered in late 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, as the story is

connected to Christmas. Marcus Petipa choreographed the ballet, and he and Tchaikovsky also

worked on The Sleeping Beauty together. The Nutcracker’s story is loosely based off E. T. A.
Hoffman’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, a children’s story that was published in 1819.

The Nutcracker is roughly an hour and thirty minutes long, typically performed with an

intermission between the two acts of the ballet. The story of The Nutcracker follows Clara as her

family prepares the house for Christmas. Drosselmeyer, a family friend and Clara’s godfather,

brings Clara and her brother Fritz presents, including a nutcracker that Fritz breaks and

Drosselmeyer repairs. Later at night, Clara sneaks out of her room and discovers a war between

the Mouse King and his mice against the Christmas toys and The Nutcracker, who turns into a

human prince after Clara saves him from the Mouse King. In the second act, Clara and The

Nutcracker return to his home, where she meets the Sugar Plum fairy and watches many exotic

dances take place. At the end, Clara wakes up and realizes that it was all a dream.

At the beginning, during the “Miniature Overture”, fast paced rhythms take place that

mimic the chaotic activity of setting up for Christmas, and the bright melody is traded between

the woodwinds and strings. The first scene builds on the excitement with the tempo changing

between slow and fast, later building up more fast rhythms that move into a straightforward

march. The march occurs during the Christmas party scene, so the bright theme played by the

trumpets creates an excitement for Christmas. The third scene, which introduces two separate

themes for the children and parents, has two juxtaposing melodies, one military like and the

other with dance like rhythms that are freer, both representing the children and adults. The fourth

scene, the introduction of Drosselmeyer, contains mysterious and curious themes, demonstrating

the wonder of Drosselmeyer’s presents, shown through consistent short rhythms and quiet

dynamics. Along with waltz movement for the dancing, the themes are short and changing to

accommodate the fast-paced show. The waltz themes move into the next dance, which contains

lots of pushing and pulling of the tempo with clear melodic lines from the flute and strings and
uses some percussion instruments to highlight the surprising moments. In the next scene, lots of

magical moments are highlighted by whimsical instruments, such as the harp. As the scene takes

a dramatic turn, the music begins building on itself through an increase in dynamics and upward

motion in the melodic line, repeating multiple times, and later with the introduction of the

timpani and trumpets to create a heroic moment. The battle has fast forward momentum lead by

the strings with fast paced rhythms, with distressed movement by the woodwinds. It quickly

changes to a scene in the forest, where serenity is evident by the harp and a calm, slow moving

melody by the oboe and accompanied by strings. It later builds up with the use of timpani,

trumpet, and strong dynamics. The act ends with a waltz theme for the snowflakes, which is

traded between instruments with slight variations. Higher voices are featured here in a serene

melody, which contrast with the frantic movement of the instruments.

In act two, the Sugar Plum fairy is introduced with a royal like theme played by the

trumpets and strings. It features the celesta, an instrument similarly sounding to a glockenspiel.

The forward momentum of Clara and The Nutcracker’s arrival is highlighted by flutes and bells,

along with the strings and brass. Several divertissements take place, starting with the “Spanish

Dance” that is moved by the trumpets and castanets. The “Arabian Dance” is a slow and soft

moving theme. The “Chinese Dance” features a short and steady melody played by the

woodwinds and strings. The “Russian Dance” is an exciting melody played by the strings, that

moves into a slower dance played by the steady flutes. The last divertissement features a playful

melody highlighted by the tambourine, with pizzicato in the strings. The next waltz is slow

moving, melody played by the oboe and harp in the beginning, and then moves to a steady tempo

featuring a conversation between the strings, woodwinds, and brass. It moves into a sighing

melody from the strings and woodwinds. Variations of the theme take place, with the castanets
making a return in a march like melody, moving into a calming celesta melody, and lastly an

exciting melody with fast moving strings. The “Final Waltz” features majestic strings and brass,

reprising the magic that has taken place and celebrating the arrival of Christmas. It ends

triumphantly with a brass fanfare and highlighted by the timpani.

Wright, C., & Simms, B. R. (2010, January 1). Music in Western Civilization. Schirmer Books.

[Link]

id=ZNGgNwAACAAJ&dq=music+in+western+civilization&hl=&cd=2&source=gbs_ap

Wiley, R. J. (2001, January 1). Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il′yich. Oxford University Press eBooks.

[Link]