Chapter 59

What is ballet?

A classical dance. The story is communicated by music, mime, and dancing.

What is the basis for The Nutcracker?

A fanciful Christmas story

How was it possible for Tchaikovsky to leave his post at the conservatory?

A wealthy admirer of his music, Countess Nadezhda von Meck, supported him financially for fourteen years. He was then able to travel a great deal among European cities and places in Russia.

What is an example of the distant relationship of music and choreography?

Act I, scene 8. Petipa originally called for a scene change to a snowy fir forest where gnomes pay homage to the Prince, Clara, and the dolls. Today, this is often replaced by a pas de deux for Clara and the Prince.

Who founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory?

Anton Rubinstein, who was especially powerful in the thought that Russians should continue to imitate European models of training and composition.

When did orchestral begin to flourish?

Around 1862, alongside opera and ballet.

Where did Tchaikovsky work for over a decade?

At the Moscow Conservatory, where he taught.

What do ballet audiences prefer?

Audiences prefer to see older ballets, principally from the nineteenth century. Ballets from the 20th century are often experimental in choreography, setting, costume, story, and music.

Who were known as the "Mighty Handful", or kuchka (handful), or The Five?

Balakirev and his four composer disciples: Alexander Borodin, Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Why did Balakirev appreciate Tchaikovsky's earlier music?

Because they quoted Russian folk songs and included nationalist gestures. However, Tchaikovsky was wary of Balakirev's overbearing personality and anti-Western sentiments. Because Tchaikovsky lived in Moscow, he kept his distance from Balakirev and his circle.

What does Modest Mussorgsky's songs and opera project?

Boris Godunov (1869, rev. 1872) projects a realistic image of Russian life.

Who opposed Rubinstein's pro-Western philosophy?

By the circle of St. Petersburg musicians led by pianist and composer Mily Balakirev (1837-1910). He opposed the dominance of European music in Russian opera houses and concert halls. He wanted to hear a distinctly Russian voice in music.

When was art music in St. Petersburg modernized?

During the reign of Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881)

One of Tchaikovsky's greatest strengths as a composer is his ability to develop motives to their greatest potential.

False

What group dominated Russian musical culture until the mid-nineteenth century?

Foreigners, especially Italian opera composers.

What did Petipa instruct Tchaikovsky to do?

He instructed Tchaikovsky about the length and character of each dance number. With this, Tchaikovsky did not attempt to create a close connection between the music and the dramatic ideas and characters. Virtually any scene of The Nutcracker can be re-choreographed.

When was the Mariinsky Theatre opened?

In 1860. Soon, it became the focal point for music performance.

Where did Tchaikovsky graduate from?

In 1865 he graduated from St. Petersburg conservatory where he had studied composition with Anton Rubinstein. He was determined to be a professional musician, not an amateur.

Where did ballet begin?

In France, so the international language of ballet is French.

In what city was ballet wildly popular?

In Paris as it emerged as an independent art form in the 18th century.

How did ballet in the 19th century have a secondary role?

It was often written by an obscure composer on the theater staff. The composer took orders from the choreographer; no originality or self-expression was expected.

Why was the Mariinsky Theater important to nineteenth-century Russian music?

It was the focal point for all musical activity in St. Petersburg.

Which dancer, who spent a number of years in residence at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater, represented the essence of what we now call "classical ballet"?

Marie Taglioni

Who was the first ballerina to specialize in dancing en pointe (on the toes, with special shoes)

Marie Taglioni

When and where did The Nutcracker premiere?

Mariinsky Theater in 1892 and since then has been performed at Christmastime by ballet companies around the world.

Who made extensive revisions to E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1819 story "Nutcracker and Mouse King" in order to create the ballet scenario for the perennial Christmas favorite, The Nutcracker?

Marius Petipa

Who was the leading figure in Russian ballet toward the end of the century?

Marius Petipa (French), who came to sSt. Petersburg as a dancer and rose to become principal choreographer at Mariinsky Theatre.

What can describe Tchaikovsky's music?

Memorably tuneful Fairly conventional in harmony Skilled in orchestration Repetitive (often through melodic sequence)

Who was the first significant and original Russian composer?

Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857). He was active in St. Petersburg. His operas used Russian language, stories, and folk-song quotations or imitations. The music, however, was based on Italian and German models.

What is the plot of The Nutcracker?

On Christmas Eve, Clara falls asleep after a party at which she has received a nutcracker as a gift. She dreams of people from exotic places and toys that come to life. A mouse king and his army do battle with Clara's nutcracker and his soldiers. Clara helps the nutcracker win, and he turns into a handsome prince. They then travel to the Land of Sweets, where various exotic, fantastical characters dance for them.

What genres did Tchaikovsky write in?

Operas, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades Symphonies (6) Symphonic Poems Concertos Character pieces for piano Songs String quartets (3) Ballets (Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker)

Who was Russia's greatest composer of the 19th century?

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He achieved international fame. Although sympathetic to the ideals of The Five, he was more strongly connected to European music

What is Mussorgsky known for?

Pictures at an Exhibition (later orchestrated by Ravel), his tone poem Night on Bald Mountain, and three song cycles.

What conflicts arose as outstanding Russian composers began to emerge?

Some believed that Russians should continue to imitate European models of training and composition.

What was the capital of Russian in the 19th century?

St. Petersburg

What important works for Ballet did Tchaikovsky write?

Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker - all in the 19th century.

Who did Petipa collaborate with?

Tchaikovsky on Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker

What ballet was based on a fairy-tale by E.T.A. Hoffman?

The Nutcracker

What is the equivalent of the chorus in an opera?

The corps de ballet

What curriculum did Balakirev distrust?

The rigid curriculum found in traditional conservatories, which he believed inhibited new ideas. He felt that formal musical training was not necessary.

Which statement most accurately describes "Within Four Walls" from Sunless?

There is no melody to speak of -- only an artful imitation of the text as it would be spoken. The accompaniment consists of loosely connected chords that avoid standard harmonic progressions. Consists of a series of melancholy exclamations made by an individual trapped by life with only a glimmer of hope for future happiness.

What did Tchaikovsky do to increase excitement in his music?

Thickens the orchestration Broadens the tempo Puts the main melody into the upper register Repeats and reinforces a melodic idea until it builds

Tchaikovsky typically develops a point of musical climax by expanding the orchestration, broadening the tempo, and marking the return of the theme with a crash of cymbals.

True

The compositions of Mikhail Glinka, the first significant and original Russian-born composer, convey their Russian quality through the use of national themes and folk-song quotations or imitations, yet the basic musical language is the same as that of German and Italian music.

True

What is the ballet equivalence of an opera Aria (plot stops) and Duet (plot stops)?

Variation/pas seul (plot stops) and Divertissement (episode of dancing/spectacle little related to the plot), respectively

Who came up with the sobriquet kuchka (also sometimes known as "The Five") to describe the handful of St. Petersburg musicians who desired to give a distinctive Russian profile to their music?

Vladimir Stasov

What does Within Four Walls from his song cycle Sunless represent?

Written in 1874, it demonstrates realism with its choice of text and a simple declamatory melody.

Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov:

is his greatest composition.

In a ballet, which section is for a single performer and comparable to an operatic aria?

variations