A masterpiece of orchestration, Tchaikovsky's enchanting Christmas fairy tale The Nutcracker has become his most popular work. This complete score includes previously difficult-to-find favorites like Waltz of the Snowflakes and Spanish Dance (Chocolate). Based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and adapted by the legendary choreographer Marius Petipa,
The Nutcracker ballet began with an 1891 commission to Tchaikovsky from St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, where it debuted the following year.
Tchaikovsky's enchanting Christmas fairy tale is his most popular work and, along with
Swan Lake, the world's most frequently performed ballet.
The work is a masterpiece of orchestration (including the historic first use of the celesta, in Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy) and is an essential study for students of orchestral combinations and effects. - Written for an orchestra, the book includes a Table of Instrumentation featuring brass, keyboard (celesta), percussion plus "toy instruments" (rattle, trumpet, drum, cuckoo, quail, cymbals, and rifle), strings, woodwinds, and voice (soprano and alto chorus).
- The keyboard (celesta) is an orchestral percussion instrument resembling a small upright piano.
- A Glossary of Russian Terms is provided along with French and German equivalents as they appear in the score
The score contains some of Tchaikovsky's most memorable melodies, several of which are frequently used in television and film. Musicians will rejoice that previously difficult-to-find favorites like
Waltz of the Snowflakes and
Spanish Dance (Chocolate) are now available, along with the rest of this beloved score, in an affordable, single-volume edition
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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) ranks among the most beloved of Russian composers. Thanks to his technical skill and strict work habits, his wide-ranging output includes symphonies, operas, ballets, instrumental and chamber music, and songs.
