Suite from the Ballet - The Nutcracker (complete)
Composer: Pjotr Tjajkovskij
Instrument: Percussion Ensemble
Level: Intermediate
Published: 2014
Price: €60.00
Item details
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Description +
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Arranged by Thomas Aanonlie
Duration: 25 min.
For my seventh publishing for Edition Svitzer I have arranged music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. All the movements from The Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a are arranged for percussion ensemble.
1. Miniature Overture, quintet:
glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba I & II and triangle.
2. Danses caractéristiques, sextet
a) March, quintet:
xylophone, vibraphone, marimba I & II and cymbals (A2).
b) Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, quintet:
glockenspiel I & II, vibraphone, marimba II & II.
c) Russian Dance (Trépak), sextet:
xylophone, vibraphone, marimba I & II, tambourine and timp.
d) Arabian Dance, quintet:
glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba I & II and tambourine.
e) Chinese Dance, quartet:
glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba I & II.
f) Dance of the Flutes, septet:
glock. l & II, xyl., vibraphone, marimba, cymbal and timp.
3. Waltz of the Flowers, septet:
glock., vibra., xyl., marimba I & II, timp. and triangle.
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Instrumentation +
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Percussion Ensemble:
1. Miniature Overture, quintet:
glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba I & II and triangle.
2. Danses caractéristiques, sextet
a) March, quintet:
xylophone, vibraphone, marimba I & II and cymbals (A2).
b) Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, quintet:
glockenspiel I & II, vibraphone, marimba II & II.
c) Russian Dance (Trépak), sextet:
xylophone, vibraphone, marimba I & II, tambourine and timp.
d) Arabian Dance, quintet:
glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba I & II and tambourine.
e) Chinese Dance, quartet:
glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba I & II.
f) Dance of the Flutes, septet:
glock. l & II, xyl., vibraphone, marimba, cymbal and timp.
3. Waltz of the Flowers, septet:
glock., vibra., xyl., marimba I & II, timp. and triangle.
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About the composer +
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (25 April / 7 May 1840 – 25 October/6 November 1893), often anglicized as Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky /ˈpiːtər .../, was a Russian composer of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884 by Emperor Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension.
Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a musical career in Russia at that time and no system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching he received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of The Five, with whom his professional relationship was mixed. Tchaikovsky's training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From this reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style—a task that did not prove easy. The principles that governed melody, harmony and other fundamentals of Russian music ran completely counter to those that governed Western European music; this seemed to defeat the potential for using Russian music in large-scale Western composition or from forming a composite style, and it caused personal antipathies that dented Tchaikovsky's self-confidence. Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great. This resulted in uncertainty among the intelligentsia about the country's national identity—an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovsky's career.
Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. Contributory factors included his early separation from his mother for boarding school followed by his mother's early death, the death of his close friend and colleague Nikolai Rubinstein, and the collapse of the one enduring relationship of his adult life, which was his 13-year association with the wealthy widow Nadezhda von Meck. His same-sex orientation, which he kept private, has traditionally also been considered a major factor, though some musicologists now downplay its importance. Tchaikovsky's sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera; there is an ongoing debate as to whether cholera was indeed the cause of death, or if it was accidental or self-inflicted.
While his music has remained popular among audiences, critical opinions were initially mixed. Some Russians did not feel it was sufficiently representative of native musical values and expressed suspicion that Europeans accepted the music for its Western elements. In an apparent reinforcement of the latter claim, some Europeans lauded Tchaikovsky for offering music more substantive than base exoticism, and said he transcended stereotypes of Russian classical music. Others dismissed Tchaikovsky's music as "lacking in elevated thought," according to longtime New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg, and derided its formal workings as deficient because they did not stringently follow Western principles.
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Reviews +
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Review (Percussive Notes, July 2016)
Arrangements or transcriptions of orchestra works are often successful, but many are full of pitfalls that lead to performance problems, such as clarity, content, and balance. More often than not, most arrangements are watered down versions of the original materials. This publication takes a major step in matching the original scores from the Russian master.
This arrangement includes a suite of movements from the famous ballet. Titles include “Miniature Overture,” “March,” “Arabian Dance,” “Chinese Dance,” “Dance of the Flutes,” “Russian Dance,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” and “Waltz of the Flowers.” Each movement is written in the original key. Each movement is written for a different number of players, ranging from four to six.
Because of the number of movements in this collection, many will choose to perform selected movements rather than the full collection. The obvious challenge for even advanced players will be to perform with clarity to match the balances that are so familiar with the original versions. Even without performing the work in its entirety, it could be a terrific teaching experience for percussion ensembles.
—George Frock
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Credits +
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Front Cover graphics and layout: Ronni Kot Wenzell
Translation: Anders Fitje
Engraving: Johan Svitzer
Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
Copyright © Edition SVITZER
www.editionsvitzer.com
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