Nutcracker Ballet - Part 3 Waltz of the Snowflakes

This past Saturday I had the great fortune of seeing the Houston Ballet perform The Nutcracker. It was amazing! I wish they posted videos on youtube of their rendition of the ballet, I really liked the set, props, and most of all the choreography. My favorite was the Arabic dance, which I will post about later.

We last left off at the  house party where Clara and her family and friends were celebrating Christmas Eve. After the party ends and Clara goes to bed, she is suddenly awoken by a swarm of rats attacking the toy soldiers inside her house. Her nutcracker comes to the rescue, and at the end of the battle he turns into a price and whisks her away to another land.

As they travel to this new land, they meet the snow queen and her snowflakes, and together they perform a charming dance, set to beautiful music written by Tchaikovsky. In some versions, Clara and the nutcracker prince are the soloists, such as the video below. In the Houston Ballet version I saw on Saturday, the Snow queen performs as the soloist with the prince. Both are equally stunning!

The Nutcracker Ballet - Act I - Waltz of the Snowflakes
Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Nutcracker Ballet - Part 2 March

Today we will continue with the wonderful ballet The Nutcracker.

In my previous post, we heard the overture, which can be thought of as the opening credits for a movie. Now, we will delve in to the Christmas party scene.

In the dance below, Clara's brother and a group of boys perform the soldier's march. Notice the steady beat, delightful rhythm, and the use of trumpets to create a scene as if real soldiers in red coats were marching through town.

The Nutcracker Suite - II. Danses  Caractéristiques- Marche

Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Nutcracker Ballet - Part 1 Miniature Overture

Now the December is here, I can't wait to share some of my favorite ballet music, the Nutcracker!

The Nutcracker is a Christmas classic, telling the story of a young girl Clara who receives a toy nutcracker for a Christmas present. That night, she finds herself attacked by a swarm of rat soldiers, led by the rat king. Her nutcracker toy turns into a Prince and comes to her rescue. The pair then travel to a far away land ruled by the Sugar Plum fairy, who rejoices at the arrival of the Prince. The sweets from around the world then dance in celebration. Clara and the Prince ride off and she wakes up in the parlor of her house underneath the Christmas tree, holding her nutcracker toy.

The genius behind the Nutcracker suite is one of my favorite composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He was a great Russian composer, who in addition to the Nutcracker, also composed for ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet.

The ballet opens with the following miniature overture while the stage is slowly being set for the night of Christmas eve...

Enjoy!


The Nutcracker Suite - I. Miniature Overture - Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Ave Maria - Lady of the Lake

So far I haven't featured any composition from operas, which are integral to classical music. But unfortunately, my own knowledge of operas is rather limited, and I don't have a great ear for it yet. The piece showcased today however, has been transposed for various instruments, my favorite being Liszt's version for the piano.

Contrary to common misconception that the piece was composed to accompany the traditional Roman Catholic prayer Ave Maria, Franz Schubert originally composed the song as one of seven set to the epic poem The Lady of the Lake. In the poem, a woman named Ellen Douglas is singing a prayer to Virgin Mary before Roderick Dhu goes into battle in rebellion against King James. The opening words of the song Ave Maria, combined with the subsequent popularity of the melody set to the traditional prayer caused this generalization.

This piece has also been featured in many movies and tv shows including: The Hangover III, The Intouchables, Glee, Psyche, 28 Days Later... the list goes on and on to a total of 210 titles on IMBD. 

Ave Maria (Op. 52, No. 6 - Ellen's Gesang III) - Composed by Franz Schubert

Performed by Mirusia Louwerse

And as mentioned earlier, my favorite instrumental version would be Franz Liszt's arrangement, performed below by Andre Hamelin

Film score - The Lion King

Happy Friday!

As music has evolved over the past decades, movies feature more digitally created sounds, but surprisingly in every movie there is still the traditional symphony embedded somewhere in the music score. I found a great video of the music score from The Lion King. The added chorus makes the theme incredibly powerful, and I can immediately picture Simba running through the field chasing after the fading Mufasa in the clouds.

This is one you don't want to miss!

The Lion King - All that The Light Touches
Composed by Hans Zimmer

"The Pianist" - Chopin Ballade

For those of you who have not seen the movie "The Pianist", a 3 Oscar award winning movie including Best Actor and Best Director,  you are missing out on the hauntingly beautiful scene below. Although the movie only features the shortened version of the piece, the set up of the scene makes the performance dramatically powerful. Based on a true story, Szpilman is a Jewish concert pianist on the run in Poland from the Nazi regime during WWII. When he scours an abandoned home in Warsaw for food, he is confronted by the German officer Hosenfeld. Miraculously, Hosenfeld suggests Szpilman play the piano after learning of his past profession, and is so moved by the performance he does not reveal Szpilman and allows him to hide in the attic.

The piece played by Szpilman in an desperate attempt to save his life is the Ballade No. 1 in G Minor Opus 23, composed by Chopin. (What does underlined gibberish mean? See previous post here and here). A Ballade is like a waltz, but more complex and rich in variations. Chopin was a master of romantic music, and while this piece is not as popular as some of his other mainstream compositions (Fantasy Impromptu, Nocturne opus 9 No. 2) I think it provides the right mood for a once outstanding pianist, now with decrepit fingers, to pour out his emotions of sorrow, misery, his passion for life, and the will to survive.

Enjoy!

Soundtrack from the movie "The Pianist"
Ballade No. 1 in G Minor Opus 23, composed by Frédéric Chopin

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Today's Friday and to head off an exciting weekend, I want to share a piano solo piece by one of my favorite composers, Franz Liszt.

Liszt was a rock star of his time, immensely popular, and endured relatively little hardship compared to some of the other great composers. It has been said that when during his concerts, he would slowly take off his long white gloves, and ladies in the audience would swoon over how handsome the act was.

Of all of Liszt's compositions, the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 is undoubtedly the most famous. He wrote total of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, and No. 2 was such a fun piece that it's been popularized by pop culture.

See it featured in this award winning cartoon short of Tom and Jerry, winner of the 1946 Academy Awards for best Cartoon short.

Similar to the Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin in the previous post, a Rhapsody is a single movement piece that is free flowing and encompasses various different tempos and moods. Think of it as interpretive dance, where one minute it's calm and peaceful, and the next moment it's wild and crazy. You will definitely hear that in Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, written in 1851. What's more unique about this particular piece is that there is a Cadenza ad libitum, where each performing artist chooses to add something special and unique into the piece. Kind of like in the middle of performing a song, the singer chooses to sing a melody from a different song or one they made up as a tribute to their performance. In the recording below, I've chosen pianist Marc Andre Hamelin's cadenza in the performance below.

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, composed by Franz Liszt

Performed by Marc Andre Hamelin