Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers. Classical Music Masterpieces

The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was transformed into a magical ballet in 1892 – and is now a Christmas favourite. A bit like a Tchaikovsky 'Toy Story', the enchanting narrative is full of wonderful characters and follows a young girl called Clara who is given a wooden nutcracker as a present. When the nutcracker comes to life as a handsome prince the two have to escape the Mouse King to reach the Land of Sweets, which is ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Waltz of the Flowers is the final dance of the ballet where all the Sugar Plum Fairy's sweets celebrate Clara and the prince. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Born: 1840 / Died: 1893 / Nationality: Russian Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (pronounced PYOT-uhr il-YEETCH chigh-KOFF-ski) wrote some of the best known and most performed music of all time. He was most famous, and indeed very famous, for his wonderful and exciting ballet scores and symphonies. In both he demonstrated a great skill with melody, unmatched orchestral energy and the ability to express the deepest of emotions. His 'real' life wasn’t a happy one at all though. His mum died when he was just 14 and he missed her terribly. He actually wrote most of his early pieces for her. As an adult he had terrible doubts and constantly wrote to his brother about how much of a fake he felt. It is in his sublime music that he expresses all of these feelings and that's why his music is some of the best loved and most performed in the world – happy, sad, excited, miserable, Tchaikovsky's music really makes us 'feel'.