The Nutcracker (Schelkunchik), or Dreams Turned Into Reality

On Christmas Eve the world is filled with the aire of a fairy tale. Everywhere you look you can see Christmas trees, illuminations, fairytale characters. Music sounds everywhere, in the streets, shops, cafes. Popular Christmas-time music ranges from classical to modern styles. But there is the one which can be heard more often, that is the music for the ballet The Nutcracker (Schelkunchik). It was written by the prominent Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893), the author of great operas, symphonies, piano and violin concertos. Tchaikovsky also composed music for three ballets, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker. His theatrical music is in the current world classical repertoire and is of great importance for world music.

A passionate admirer of the ballet art, Tchaikovsky could not understand why music for dancing in those days was minor and so primitive. He came to the conclusion that rich musical intonation would help dancers to express necessary emotions. Besides, he wanted to add a dramatic nature to orchestra parties. Initially his ideas were rejected. His first ballet, Swan Lake, written in the 1870s and performed in the Moscow Theatre, was not acclaimed by choreographers, entrepreneurs, critics and the public. They considered that the music was too intricate for dancing. Only progressive musicians and audiences could perceive the greatness of the orchestral part. Nevertheless, the ballet endured 32 performances, more than any other of that time. Today Swan Lake is one of the most performed ballets in the world.

Tchaikovsky’s next ballet was Sleeping Beauty. The premiere performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1890 and immediately was a dramatic success.

Both ballets are based on medieval plots. But the outstanding composer didn’t consider the medieval themes with the romantic zeal as other composers did.

Both ballets carry the idea of the duel of good and evil. But the culmination of the victory of good over evil is reflected in his third and last ballet The Nutcracker written in 1892 for the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre. Tchaikovsky set to music the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffman. Marius Petipa, a distinguished ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer, wrote the libretto. The ballet survived a lot of problems. At first the performance was planned as a joke. But the libretto and music were much more serious than just a joke. Petipa tells us a story about a young German girl Marie who dreams on Christmas night of the Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads after having been presented with many toys including a nutcracker (which at once becomes her favorite one). The Christmas dream turns her life into a fairy tale with many wonders. A lot of critics of those days marked a discord of the libretto and the music. In the final act, where Marie awakens from her dream, the music was considered to be too dramatic, as if the composer wanted to show that the girl realized that the fairy-tale prince was just a wooden toy. (In the tale, the heroine Marie’s adventures with the toys and with the Nutcracker are not a dream, and at the end she marries the Nutcracker/Prince.) Critics explained it as Tchaikovsky’s disappointment in life, particularly regarding his works of that time (he died a year later).

Still, enjoying this ballet we never notice such a discord, but always the true love of the main characters that change their lives into a fairy-tale reality Christmas night.

I saw my first ballet performance when I was 5 years old. It was The Nutcracker in the Bolshoi. I was so impressed both by the proficient ballet dancers and fabulous music that I decided to become a dancer or a musician. But since my parents are musicians, my future had been predetermined and I became a pianist. Having mastered my profession, I started to work as an accompanist for ballet dancers at one of the prestigious universities, the Russian Academy of Theatre Art. The Nutcracker is the most beloved work in my repertoire. I succeeded in combining two of my favorite arts, ballet dancing and music. My dreams came true and my fairy tale turns into reality each time I appear on the scene. It has become my heart-warming tradition.

Edited by Elena Borisova, English teacher, Russian Gnesins Academy of Music