8th Grade General Music Beth Sundquist

8th Grade General Music

• Beth Sundquist

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• born Kamsko-Votkinsk, May 7, 1840

• died St. Petersburg, November 6, 1893

• Russian nationalist composer

• Late Romantic Period

Childhood/Schooling

• Father was a mine inspector

• Started piano lessons at age five

• At age ten he was sent to the School of Jurisprudence at St. Petersburg

• Mother died when he was 14

• He was a very sensitive child and parting from his mother was difficult

• At 19 he took a post at the Ministry of Justice

• In 1863 he entered the Conservatory, also undertaking private teaching

Early Life

• He was often depressed and insecure around people

• Known homosexual

• Married Antonina Ivanova Miliukova in 1877

• She left him after only nine weeks

• Attempted suicide

• Nervous breakdown

• Nadejda von Meck - pen pal and subsidizer for 14 years

• Terminated relationship in 1890 for fear of bankruptcy

Late Romantic Period

• 1850-1900

• Focused on self-expression in music

• Many new and diverse musical styles emerged

• Grand opera is the most noted form of this period

• Musical storytelling was also popular

• Romantic music is more lyrical/programmatic than music of the Classical era

The Nutcracker Suite

• First performance December 18, 1892 in St. Petersburg

• Overture

• Marche

• Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

• Trepak- Russian Dance

• Arab Dance

• Chinese Dance

• Dance of the Reed Pipes

• Waltz of the Flowers

Overture

• Christmas at the Stahlbaum home

• Clara’s godfather makes magical toys

• Clara gets a Nutcracker doll, brother Fritz breaks it, godfather fixes doll

• Clara gets up in the night for her doll,falls asleep under the Christmas tree, starts to dream

Marche

• The Mouse King attacks, the Nutcracker Prince tries to defend Clara, but is struck down

• Clara defeats the Mouse King by throwing her shoe

• Clara kisses the Nutcracker Prince and he turns human

• They travel through the Land of Snow to the Land of Sweets

Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

• In the Land of Sweets, Clara and the Prince meet the Sugar-Plum Fairy

• She invites them to stay and be entertained by her subjects

Trepak - Russian Dance

Waltz of the Flowers

The End

• Clara and the Nutcracker Prince return home on a sleigh of ice and candy

• Clara awakens from her dream