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- The Nutcracker. Like Swan Lake before it, The Nutcracker was met with a lukewarm response at its premiere in 1892. Despite this, both are now among the most popular ballets of all time, and The Nutcracker contains so many popular melodies that Tchaikovsky transformed some of his own favourites into the 20-minute Nutcracker Suite which includes Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, Dance of the Reed Flutes, and Waltz of the Flowers, among others.
- 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture is a firecracker of a piece – quite literally. Written in 1880, it pays tribute to the Russian army’s defence against Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion in the year 1812.
- Swan Lake. The first of three ballets written by Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake is one of the most iconic ballets of all time, from the music through to the costume and choreography.
- Symphony No. 5. Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony was composed in 1888, receiving its premiere in November of that year at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg where it was conducted by the composer himself.
- 1812 Overture
- The Nutcracker
- Swan Lake
- The Sleeping Beauty
- Piano Concerto No.1
- Eugene Onegin
- Violin Concerto in D Major
- Symphony No. 6 ‘Pathétique’
- Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
- Serenade in C For Strings
The 1812 Overture(1880), Tchaikovsky’s most famous work, tells the story of Napoleon’s defeat at the hands of the Russian army, via the ‘Marseillaise’ and the ‘Russian Imperial Hymn’, climaxing in a majestic celebration of cannon fire. It is one of the best examples of how Tchaikovsky was a master of orchestration and one of Tchaikovsky’s best work...
No other composer has ever succeeded in capturing the fairy-tale world of childhood innocence as inimitably as Tchaikovsky in this most cherishable of his three great ballet scores. The ballet’s title comes from a story written in 1814, by the German fantasy writer ETA Hoffmann, in which a young girl’s favorite Christmas present, a nutcracker, come...
Swan Lake is arguably the greatest of all Romantic ballets and one of Tchaikovsky’s best works. The original version of Swan Lake, premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow in 1877, was a failure, and it was not until the 1895 revival, with choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, that the ballet finally won over the Russian public. Swan Lakei...
The Sleeping Beauty, based on a timeless fairytale, is one of the world’s most beloved ballets. Tchaikovsky’s radiantly inspired music reflected his contented state of mind at the time and he declared, “The subject is so poetical that I got quite carried away while composing it!” Sadly Tchaikovsky did not live long enough to witness the instant suc...
The first version of Piano Concerto No. 1was severely criticized by Nikolai Rubenstein, Tchaikovsky’s desired pianist, who declared, “only two or three pages are worth preserving; the rest must be thrown away!” However, the concerto was an immediate success at the premiere, performed by Hans von Bulow, and is widely regarded as one of the most popu...
Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky’s best-loved opera, is based on Pushkin’s novel of the same name. Tchaikovsky’s natural sympathy with the situation of Eugene Onegin – composed around the time of the composer’s disastrous marriage – inspired him to new operatic heights of expression.
Tchaikovsky composed his Violin Concerto in D major in Clarens, Switzerland, in 1878, where he had gone to recover from the depression brought on by his disastrous marriage. He was joined there by his violinist friend Iosif Kotek who advised him on the solo part. Tchaikovsky dedicated his Violin Concerto, one of the greatest in the repertoire, to t...
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the ‘Pathétique’, is one of the great symphonic masterpieces of all time. It was the composer’s last work – the symphony premiered on 28 October 1893, nine days before he died – and the work is forever associated with the tragedy of his sudden death. From the savage intensity of the opening movement to the unfathomable...
Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overtureis based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name. Composer Mily Balakirev recognized the special qualities of Tchaikovsky’s early concert overture from the first: “It is your first composition which truly draws itself to one in its total beauty.”
Tchaikovsky’s mastery of string writing and composing for the ballet theatre comes to the fore in this magnificent Serenade, whose waltz movement had to be immediately encored at the premiere. It is now considered to be one of the late Romantic era’s definitive compositions. Discover more of our articles collecting the best works of composers throu...
- The Nutcracker Suite. Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite - Sinfonia Rotterdam/ Conrad van Alphen. The Nutcracker is perhaps Tchaikovsky’s best-known work. The two-act ballet is one of the most recognizable tunes in classical music and has been continually used since its composition, with it being the most popular ballet performed today.
- Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake. Swan Lake is another ballet that did not find initial success. Though today it is one of the most performed ballets in the world.
- 1812 Solemn Overture. 1812 OVERTURE, P. I. Tchaikovsky (Canons i campanar) - Banda Simfònica d'Algemesí. The Year 1812, Solemn Overture, Op. 49 was written by Tchaikovsky to commemorate the successful defense against Napoleon’s grand army by Russian forces in 1812.
- Piano Concerto No. 1. Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 (B Flat Minor) Among the composer’s best piano pieces of all time, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 underwent several revisions after being debuted in Boston by Hans von Bülow.
The 50 greatest Tchaikovsky recordings. The perfect introduction to Tchaikovsky's music, featuring recordings by Herbert von Karajan, Martha Argerich, Mstislav Rostropovich, Julia Fischer, Valery Gergiev and many more.
We explain how this king of the concert hall triumphed despite its inauspicious start, and present the best recordings of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Tchaikovsky wrote some of the best known and best loved music ever written. His three ballets – Swan Lake (1877), Sleeping Beauty (1889) and The Nutcracker (1892) – are perennial favorites.
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Discover Tchaikovsky's 15 Greatest Works: Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Slavonic March and more.
