Piotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPiotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPiotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPiotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPiotr Ilyich TchaikovskyBorn: May 7, 1840Born: May 7, 1840Born: May 7, 1840Born: May 7, 1840Born: May 7, 1840Died: November 6, 1893Died: November 6, 1893Died: November 6, 1893Died: November 6, 1893Died: November 6, 1893

Piotr (or Peter, as we wouldsay in English) IlyichTchaikovsky was born inVotinsk, a town in Russia’sUral Mountains. When hewas 8 years old, his familymoved to the capital city ofSt. Petersburg. AlthoughTchaikovsky was a goodmusician as a child, thiswasn’t considered an“acceptable profession; sohis parents made him studylaw instead. Even in lawschool, however, the youngcomposer continued topursue music. Eventually hegave up his legal job toattend the St. PetersburgConservatory.

After graduation,Tchaikovsky moved toMoscow to teach at the newmusic conservatory there. Itis now named after him.Although he composedmusic in many differentstyles, Tchaikovsky is mostfamous for his ballets.Maybe you’ve heard or seensome of them; they includeSleeping Beauty, Swan Lakeand The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker is a storywritten by a German, E.T.A.Hoffman. Tchaikovsky washired in 1891 by the St.Petersburg Opera to writemusic for a ballet based onthis tale. Initially, he did notlike the idea of setting thework around a children’sChristmas party. Luckily,the choreographers wereable to convince him to keepthis setting. The Nutcracker

The Nutcrackerdebuted on December 17,1892, in the MariinskyTheatre, the home of theKirov Ballet. It was notperformed outside of Russiauntil 1934. Since then, itwas been one of the mostpopular ballets of all time.

The Nutcracker is a holidayfairy tale about a young girlClara, and her favoriteChristmas gift, a nutcracker.During her family’s holidayparty, Clara’s brother breaksthis toy. GodfatherDrosselmeyer uses hisspecial powers to repair it.Later that night, Clara isawakened by the sound ofscurrying mice, who havecome to attack her and thenutcracker. Magically, thetoy comes to life and fightsoff the animals. Once theMouse King is defeated, thespell that has been cast overthe nutcracker is broken andit is revealed to be ahandsome prince.

This prince then takes Clarato his Kingdom of Sweets,where he shows her all of itsdelights. The “Dance of theReed Pipes” and the“Russian Dance” are two ofthe performances seen inthis special place. Men inflowing shirts and redbreeches most often dancethe “Russian Dance.” The“Dance of the Reed Pipes”is usually performed bythree people dressed asshepherdesses. The trill ofthe flutes and the music ofthe woodwinds help createits dainty scene.

WGUC sincerely thanksThe Charles H. Dater FoundationThe Charles H. Dater FoundationThe Charles H. Dater FoundationThe Charles H. Dater FoundationThe Charles H. Dater Foundation

for its sustaining support since theinception of

Classics for Kids®.

*

*

**

****C

“Russian Dance” Listening Map

B

A

B

A

“Dance of the Reed Pipes” Listening map

All of the words below have something to do with the story of The

Nutcracker. See if you can find them in the puzzle above.

Ballet Nutcracker Prince

Chinese Tea Chocolate Dance Reeds

Clara Fritz Drosselmeyer

Snowflakes Sugar Plums Marzipan

Tchaikovsky Mother Goose Toy Soldiers

Mouse King Waltz

A’