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the Music Master

Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker Ballet

Holidays are a time for special foods. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons nuts are found in greater abundance than on ordinary days. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts–and they routinely require a leveraged instrument, hinged at one end, to crack them before they can be eaten.

Nutcrackers, as they are called, have become indispensable tools for these occasions, and are commonly crafted with a unique design. One given to a special young girl named Clara, just over one hundred years ago, has become as memorable as any object in musical history and the world of dance.

The "Nutcracker Ballet," based on the E.T.A. Hoffman story, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," has become synonymous with the Christmas season. Its premise is simple: Clara's Christmas gift of a large and ornate nutcracker in the shape of a prince comes to life in a dream fantasy. He saves her from dreaded giant mice and takes her to a fantasy world where celebrations are measured by dances with an international flair.

The great Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the score to the ballet in 1892, a year before his death. The charming and colorful music is skillfully composed by a master at the height of his powers. The original performance of the ballet did not meet with success, but the extracted “suite” Tchaikovsky was. Excerpts–known as a suite–from the ballet are frequently performed in the concert hall and now in movies and commercials. Since the 1960s the ballet has found great success and popularity in North America and has proven to be the financial foundation of many ballet companies which rely on the Christmas season featuring the Nutcracker for fiscal solvency. It is now an established Christmas tradition.

Interestingly, the ballet premiered in December, but the suite appeared first, in March.

One watches the Nutcracker Ballet in the theater but listens to the Nutcracker Suite in the concert hall. This great score is filled with delightful tunes, many of which are seldom heard outside the ballet performances. Others, such as “The Waltz of the Flowers,” have achieved stand-alone status at “pops” concerts and in commercials.

The "Nutcracker" makes for a great family outing and entertainment in either format.

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String Quintet

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