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ABOUT THE MUSIC OF SWAN LAKE
Although Tchaikovsky was no doubt familiar with the
ballet from attending performances, Swan Lake was the first time he
was to complete a composition for the art form. In 1870 Tchaikovsky told his
brothers that he was hard at work on a four-act ballet of Cinderella.
However, he seems to have quickly abandoned it as this is the last mention
of the work and no sketches survive. (Cinderella was staged that
winter with music by a German composer.) In August 1875 he wrote to
Rimsky-Korsakov, "I took this work partly for money, which I need, and
partly because I have long wanted to try my hand at this kind of music." To
familiarize himself with the demands of the art form he studied the ballet
music of the period, which was of rather a poor standard. Thankfully his
natural gifts and imagination enabled him to surpass this research and to
produce a score that undoubtedly changed the public perception of music for
ballet. Most of the music appears to have been written in Moscow, although
just one month before he completed the work he wrote to his brother Anatoli,
"I am up to my eyes in the orchestration of my ballet which must be ready by
St. Thomas’ week. As I still have to finish two and a half acts, I have
decided to work at this most boring task both in Holy and Easter weeks; to
be able to do this I must get away from here [Moscow]." The score was
completed by April 1876. After subsequently hearing Delibes’ score for
Sylvia, Tchaikovsky wrote, "If I had known this music earlier, I would
of course not have composed Swan Lake, for it is poor stuff compared
to Sylvia."
(This intro credit to Internet)
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