Program Notes

Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20 (1875-76)

Scored for three flutes and piccolo, pairs of oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings

 

One of the greatest dilemmas artists can face concerning one of their creations is that of endurance by toleration. When critics and public have been exposed to a new work which then has grievous sentence passed over it by the former and nothing more than mediocrity spoken of it by the latter, most artists would be perfectly content if that particular fruit of their labors would die a swift death. Unfortunately for Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it was a lingering illness.

When he was first asked to create a brand new ballet for the Bolshoi, the composer was intrigued. Even though he admitted that he undertook the project because he needed the money, he also enjoyed the challenge of working in a medium that was new to him.

The agreed-upon scenario was called Swan Lake and was derived from a German folk tale about Prince Siegfried who falls in love with Princess Odette, who becomes a swan by day, and reverts to a woman at night. The spell was cast over Odette by the evil sorcerer von Rothbart, but will be broken once Siegfried declares his love for her.

Unused to the time constraints and the detailed requirements of the balletmaster concerning tempo, mood, type of dance, number of bars, etc, Tchaikovsky found the task rough going. Though he tinkered with it since his commission in the summer of 1875, the composer had to admit in March of 1876, “I’m up to my neck in scoring the ballet. I’ve got to devote the whole of Easter to finishing this endlessly boring, interminable job.” But finish it he did on April 22, two days before the deadline.

Once rehearsals began, though, it became apparent that the balletmaster, Wenzel Reisinger, seemed completely baffled by the music. So much so that he set aside several of the numbers declaring them undanceable. And when he tried to replace some of Tchaikovsky’s music with that of other composers, Tchaikovsky put his foot down and confidently defended his music. Even though this incident caused much of Reisinger’s deletions to be reinstated, the balletmaster’s choreography was less than motivated. This attitude seems to have spilled over to the dancers as well, and when Swan Lake was given its first performance on March 4, 1877, even the sets were pronounced uninspired.

Oddly enough, Tchaikovsky himself seemed strangely detached about the whole thing. In the face of a premiere that would have many a composer in tears, he was content simply to get on with his life. It was clear to Tchaikovsky that the music was not to blame, though it got lost in the critical melee. He was a successful composer by now, the triumph of his First Piano Concerto in Boston having rescued him from the jaws of the vicious St. Petersburg critics and into the arms of the world. Having tried his hand at ballet, he could now return to writing chamber and orchestral works and the staged genre which was closest to his heart, that of opera.

But Swan Lake wouldn’t go away. Though Tchaikovsky had almost nothing more to do with it, this irksome thorn in his side managed to rack up forty-one indifferent performances before it was finally put to rest in 1883. But, as we know, that wasn’t the end of it.

In 1894, Act Two of the ballet was performed as a memorial tribute to the recently deceased composer, and was so well-received that the work was staged in its entirety the following year with choreography shared between Lev Ivanov and the famous Marius Petipa. It was an astounding success and has since graced the theatres of the world as a undisputed masterpiece. If only Tchaikovsky could have lived to see it. If only he could have known that he was right to stand by his music, and that what seemed an unpleasant footnote in his professional life would be pronounced by future generations as one of the greatest triumphs in ballet history.

 

Act I

Scene

An oboe introduces the first Swan theme followed by a descending scale representing fate. The music builds to dramatic intensity, and this introduction serves to set the scene in place of an overture. But soon, the ballet begins with a joyous shout in a park where Prince Siegfried’s birthday celebrations are in full swing. A crowd of peasants congratulates him, and then dance for his pleasure.

 

Waltz

This famous piece needs little introduction. Its beauty and drama have made it a Tchaikovsky classic well-known to all. It accompanies a scene in which the Prince, in the midst of the celebrations, knows that he must soon choose a wife and announce his engagement and must do this out of obligation rather than for love.

 

Act Two

Dance of the Young Swans

This is another well-known Tchaikovsky masterpiece. Its arresting staccato melody above a bouncing accompaniment is joined with the scene in which the young swans dance arm-in-arm, a visual that is familiar even to those who have never seen the ballet.

 

Pas d’action

This is the scene where Siegfried and Odette declare their love for each other. The harp sets the scene and soon a solo Cello joins it to intone the gentle love song above tender orchestral accompaniment.

 

Act Three

Hungarian Dance

Tchaikovsky casts this dance in the form of a traditional czardas, beginning with a slow, but rhythmically complex theme, and then practically lifts us out of our seats for the furious, but foot-tapping second theme.

 

Russian Dance

This dance was not included in Tchaikovsky’s finished score. It was added by the composer later at the request of Reisinger as a showcase for the Prima Ballerina Pelagaya Karpakova. The dance follows the pattern of slow-fast that characterized the Hungarian Dance, with the solo violin passionately rhapsodizing throughout. Tchaikovsky later arranged this as a piano piece.

 

Spanish Dance

Here we are treated to an energetic Bolero, a dance in triple meter, which owes its character to vibrant dotted rhythms. The castanets complete the portrait of sunny Sevilla.

 

Neapolitan Dance

The cornet is the star of this dance which presents a traditional Italian song with bouncing accompaniment. Before long, though, the music intensifies and before we have time to catch our breath, is spun into a swirling tarantella.

 

Mazurka

The suite ends with a Polish national dance in lively tempo characterized by a heavy accent on the third, then the second beat. The dance that Chopin made his own is also well-represented here by the Russian master. A still vivacious, but more quietly lyrical middle section intervenes temporarily, and the movement ends with a grand finale.