Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky5/7/1840 - 11/6/1893
Born in Russia Piotr (or Peter, as we would say in English) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, a town in Russia's Ural Mountains. When he was 8 years old, his family moved to the capital city of St. Petersburg. Even though Tchaikovsky was a good musician as a kid, that wasn't considered an "acceptable" profession, so his parents made him study law instead. Websites about Tchaikovsky http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=75 http://www.dsokids.com/listen/by-composer/piotr-ilyich-tchaikovsky.aspx http://kidsmusiccorner.co.uk/composers/classical/tchaikovsky/ Nutcracker From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Nutcracker is a classical ballet in two acts. It is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It tells the story of a little girl who goes to the Land of Sweets on Christmas Eve. Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa adapted Hoffmann's story for the ballet. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov designed the dances. The Nutcracker was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 18 December 1892. It was a modest success. Some people liked it, others did not. Because of its reception, the ballet was rarely performed. About fifty years later, Walt Disney used some of the Nutcracker music in his 1940 animated movie Fantasia. People liked the movie and started to take an interest in the ballet. Interest grew when George Balanchine's The Nutcracker was televised in the late 1950s. The ballet has been performed in many different places since then. It is loved by many people. Before the first performance, Tchaikovsky took some numbers from the ballet to form the Nutcracker Suite. This work was a great success on the concert stage, and is still played today. Overview of the Nutcracker http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=A57213 Behind the Scenes of the Nutcracker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6hofJdmhro |
Nutcracker clips by scene WARNING: Clicking on the video links will take you to YouTube.com and away from the this website. Please monitor your child's web activities. Children's Gallop and Dance of the Parents www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyPq9ec0MsE Dancing Dolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dPjirwQDI Mouse King Battle www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzKXmQVJtfw Waltz of the Snowflakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaIQNjAX_8&spfreload=10 Chocolate (Spanish Dance) www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkRfpvDUTSA Tea (Chinese Dance) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiyx1m44nMM Trepak (Russian Dance) www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiuN9eAy9Y Dance of the Reed-Pipes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr25CiArOvI Mother Ginger www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDWzn5Jeq4 Waltz of the Flowers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFGLo4UECqM Nutcracker App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nutcracker-ballet-school-stories/id582623419?mt=8 Nutcracker Flying Instruments (parts of the orchestra game) http://www.musicgames.net/livegames/flyinginstruments/flyinginstruments1.htm |