The Classical Music Book

190

THE NOTES DANCE UP

THERE ON THE STAGE

THE NUTCRACKER (1892)

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

T

he 19th century brought a

revolution in the world of

ballet. Earlier ballet music

had been largely made up of well-

known opera songs linked by

melodies written by a theatre

musician. Few original scores for

ballet were composed before 1820.

At this time, light Romantic

ballets began to appear, dominated

in Europe by dancers such as Marie

Taglioni, whose father Filippo

choreographed La Sylphide to

showcase her skills. Its central

themes of enchantment and an

ethereal female lead were a vehicle

for dancers to explore “floating

motion” and pointe work (dancing

on tiptoe), with ever-shorter dresses

to allow the dancers’ feet and legs

to be seen. The music for these

earlier ballets was very much

at the service of the dance, and

usually written by “specialists”—

composers prepared to produce

light, rhythmic music that would

not upstage the dance.

Ballet moves east

From about 1850, ballet’s center

began to shift from Paris to Russia,

where tsarist patronage facilitated

lavish productions. Tchaikovsky

received the commission for his

first ballet, Swan Lake, in 1875.

Approaching the commission

with symphonic ambition, he

created melodies associated with

characters in the story. The critics,

however, were not ready for a ballet

score worthy of the concert hall,

and in spite of a warm audience

reception, critical incomprehension

saw the work shelved.

While the choreographer on

Swan Lake, Julius Reisinger, had

allowed Tchaikovsky quite a lot of

freedom, the choreographer Marius

Petipa was more specific about

what he required of the music when

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Ballet music

BEFORE

1832 La Sylphide, the first

Romantic ballet, opens

in Paris, choreographed by

Filippo Taglioni to music

composed by Jean-Madeleine

Schneitzhoeffer.

1870 Léo Delibes’s ballet

Coppélia, about a dancing doll

that comes to life, is staged at

the Paris Opéra.

1876 Delibes’s ballet Sylvia

opens in Paris. Tchaikovsky

praises his score for Sylvia

above Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

AFTER

1911 Stravinsky’s ballet

Petrushka premieres in Paris.

1920 The Paris Opéra stages

the premiere of Stravinsky’s

Pulcinella, with choreography

by Leonid Massine. The

libretto is inspired by a

folk tale.

The heart of the

classical repertory is the

Tchaikovsky–Petipa

Sleeping Beauty, and

no ballet is harder

to get right.

Robert Gottlieb

American writer and dance critic

US_190-191_Tchaikovsky.indd 190 26/03/18 1:01 PM