The Nutcracker: Concert Suite vs. Ballet

Welcome back and Merry Christmas Eve.

My girlfriend Karen and I partook in a Northcoast Christmas season tradition a week and a half ago for the very first time. And of course, my dad had a record for that. 

It’s not a vinyl record, but a shellac album set recorded nearly 100 years ago that probably belonged to my dad’s dad. And it’s filled with music from a US holiday tradition. But if you’ve ever seen the ballet it’s connected to, you’ll notice plenty of music missing.

I’ll tell you why as we go along. In fact, this is going to be a lengthy dive into the difference between the suite and the dance.

So, get ready to hear the most notable themes from a fairytale ballet as Stokowski conducts Tschaikowsky in Volume 251: A Cleveland Ballet Christmas Tradition.

For more information about this album, see the Discogs webpage for it. 

Credits and copyrights

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Philadelphia Orchestra Conducted By Leopold Stokowski – Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a

Label: Victor Red Seal – DM 265

Series: Musical Masterpiece Series

Format: 3 x Shellac, 12", 78 RPM, Album, Reissue, Camden Pressing

Released: in the mid 1940s, I am not sure of the release of this version. There many of them

Genre: Classical

Style: Romantic, Ballet

We are listening to all 6 sides of this collection which includes 8 songs.

Overture Miniature

Marche 

Dance Of The Sugar-plum Fairy

Russian Dance 

Arab Dance 

Chinese Dance

Dance Of The Flutes 

Waltz Of The Flowers

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

#nutcracker #christmastradition #tchaikovsky