A New Direction for Ballet Music
In Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky took classical ballet music on a new path. It was the first of his classic ballets, written in 1877, followed by Sleeping Beauty in 1890 and The Nutcracker in 1892.
Previously, ballet scores were written in a mostly light, airy style noted for its charm and elegance, or, as music critic Harold Schonberg wrote, “um-pah-pah music.” For the most part Tchaikovsky took a dim view of these works, and infused Swan Lake with a rich, passionate warmth that was to become his balletic and orchestral hallmark.
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