𝐏. 𝐓𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐯𝐬𝐤𝐲(𝐀𝐫𝐫. 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫) - 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐎𝐩.𝟐𝟎𝐚, 𝟑. 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐲𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐬

Tchaikovsky left three pieces of ballet music, of which 'Swan Lake' is the most famous. Composed in 1876 when he was 36 years old, his ballet music expresses beautiful melodies, sweet and sentimental lyricism, human expression of characters, and fantastic stories. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake is also famous for raising the level of ballet music to the next level. In fact, until then, ballet music was nothing more than accompaniment music to support dance. People paid little attention to the music, only how well the dancers danced, how well the choreography was, how fancy the backgrounds and costumes were. However, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake went beyond the level of simple accompaniment music. It was great accompaniment music, but it was an art that was comparable to music alone. There are 30 pieces in 'Swan Lake'. Among these, only good pieces were selected and made into a suite so that they can be played at general concerts. In particular, the famous scenery, waltz, dance of the little swans, and dances of each country are masterpieces that can be impressed enough just by listening to ballet without seeing it. In 1875, he was commissioned by the Moscow Bolshoi Theater manager to compose ballet music, despite the low cost of composition, and he wrote to Rimsky Korsakov about his feelings. "The first reason I played 'Swan Lake' is because of the money. Another reason is that I wanted to test myself with this genre of music from before." He was very careful in his preparation as it was the first ballet music composition in his life. He borrowed scores of various ballets from the theater library and studied them diligently. Tchaikovsky's ideal work was Adam's 'Giselle', and he wanted to write a work that surpassed 'Giselle'. He started composing in earnest from the summer of that year, but the work did not go as planned, and he barely completed his work until April 10, 1876, the following year. Tchaikovsky's ballet music 'Swan Lake' was premiered at the Bolshoi Theater on February 20, 1877, but contrary to expectations, it was a disastrous failure. At the time, the leading ballerina's skills were insufficient, her conducting was insignificant, and even the stage equipment and costumes were clumsy. However, the biggest reason for the failure was the music composed by Tchaikovsky. At the time, Russian ballet music was not free from simple dance forms that were easy to dance, but Tchaikovsky's ballet music, overflowing with the grandeur and sophistication of symphonic music, was way ahead of its time. Timid Tchaikovsky was deeply discouraged, deciding that the cause of his failure was a defect in his music. This ballet managed to maintain its reputation until around 1882, five years later, but it was gradually forgotten. Marius Petipa, a prominent choreographer after Tchaikovsky's death, saw that the cause of Swan Lake's failure was not in music, but in the choreography and stage setting at the premiere. Thus, Petipa, then 71 years old and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, discovered the true value of the music, choreographed the second act with his disciple, and uploaded it to the Tchaikovsky Memorial Performance Repertory on 17 February 1894. The two, who gained confidence, choreographed the rest again and performed in January 1895, creating an opportunity for such great success as today.