# Listening to ballets: the whole score or the suite?



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm thinking mostly of the ballets of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev but some of those by Stravinsky may also serve. What I wonder is, when it is just for the music (say for sitting and listening to it at home without viewing any of the action), do you want to listen to the whole score or to a suite? Does ballet music have a musical logic that tells a story without any dancing - does it hold your attention? The scores of the big ballets of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev are after all quite long. On the other hand, on most occasions when the composer has produced a suite from their ballet, the suite might often seem too slight? But I do often feel that even the scores of many of the great ballets do seem to contain a fair amount of music that is not that rewarding to merely listen to. 

This might be a similar question to the case of listening to film music without the film but it does seem a very different question to the case of listening to (but not seeing) an opera. I'm not sure how I would answer these questions if someone else had asked! So I am hoping to gain some insights.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Depends. Much ballet does contain a lot of filler. Esp. Prokofiev - although extracts other than his own suites (which are out of order numbers) tend to be better. Stravinsky's big ballets don't lend themselves to suites. Tchaikovsky's can, and can be perfectly enjoyable. A lot of nineteenth century ballet is dreadful, because the music was not supposed to upstage the dance. A lot of 20th century ballet stands up quite well on its own as music, suite or not.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I prefer the suites of some ballets. _The Firebird_ has some filler that works fine in the theater but doesn't add much to the more concise suite. I think I prefer an abridged _Romeo and Juliet_ too, but all the love music and the final scene must be retained! _Cinderella_ is shorter, so I like to hear it all and imagine the story as I listen.

I don't often listen to 19th-century ballet scores, and generally I prefer to hear only the tuneful dance numbers, omitting the "incidental music" which exists only to accompany plot action. The Tchaikovsky ballets are another matter; they contain hardly an uninspired bar, and I can happily let them play from start to finish while going about my day.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Yes, just depends. I find myself though listening not to the official suites, but to recordings of excerpts chosen by the conductor. So you get more music, often in score order. Sometimes the composer's suite are ok, but in things like Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet, a suite of extended selections, like MTT on RCA is much more gratifying. Khachaturian's suites from Spartacus and Gayane are ok, but there are conductor-suites that offer a lot more. Stravinsky made several suites from Firebird, the 1919 is still the best, and it's really all the Firebird you need. Petrouchka and Rite of Spring cannot be made into suites.

I love the Tchaikovsky ballets, but in no case are the official suites acceptable. For Swan Lake, the best ever suite was made by the late, great Jean Morel on RCA - did this ever make it to CD? I doubt it, but it was a superbly chosen and played collection. Arthur Fiedler, also on RCA, made another fine contribution. For Sleeping Beauty the best "suite" was the Previn/LSO "Highlights" record. For Nutcracker, Ormandy owns it - a much extended suite played to the hilt.

So yes, suites are great - some of the best tunes, in ear catching orchestrations and no filler.


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

I prefer to listen to the entirety of Petrushka, The Firebird, and Romeo and Juliet. They hold my attention very well. However, I don't think that I would be able to sit through an entire performance of Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty. There are individual numbers in both of those ballets that I enjoy tremendously and those numbers are usually included in suites. So, I guess it depends on the ballet.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

For the sake of flow and coherency in narrative, I tend to prefer whole ballets rather than suites. Daphnis et Chloe comes to mind, as the music from start to finish is simply too fascinating to be chopped up and streamlined into suites (the same can be said of Khachaturian's Spartacus or even Glazunov's "Raymonda"). 

But for an occasional fun, I guess suites are not so bad (Massenet's suite from "El Cid" for instance is a delightful listen).


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Do you want to know and hear the story behind the ballet? Are you interested in hearing ballet or a symphonic rendition? These are the questions you must answer. If yes and ballet you want the entire ballet. If the reverse, the suites.

Most recordings of ballet suites are, in my opinion, not as much ballet as concert music.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Generally for me it tends to be suites. The purist in me objects of course, but the "filler" comments above are often very pertinent. On the other hand, I rarely listen to opera highlights, apart from using them as an orientation tool with unfamiliar works.

Seeing the ballet is of course a different kettle of fish.

Prokofiev does well well/better as suites, and ditto Tchaikovsky, but for Stravinsky, this is true only for The Firebird, and maybe Pulcinella. With Bartók's two ballets, The Wooden Prince Suite is a real rarity, with The Miraculous Mandarin, the suite cuts out the weird and wonderful other-worldly closing pages, debatably the best part, so for me it's totally pointless!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

With Tchaikovsky, definitely the suites. Except for Nutcracker, I feel there are a lot of weaker moments, especially in Swan Lake. With Stravinky I listen to the whole thing, since they feel less like standalone episodes. Prokofiev works for me both whole or suites.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

I enjoy whichever suite/complete I select to hear. I have both in the stable.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> With Tchaikovsky, definitely the suites. Except for Nutcracker, I feel there are a lot of weaker moments, especially in Swan Lake. With Stravinky I listen to the whole thing, since they feel less like standalone episodes. Prokofiev works for me both whole or suites.


Interestingly different from me on Tchaikovsky. For me it is the suite for the Nutcracker (what a wonderful suite it is) but the whole ballet, despite the filler, for Swan Lake. I don't feel the Swan Lake suite is very satisfying.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Varies from work to work. I mostly concur with the sentiments above- for a Tchaikovsky ballet which is more stop-and-go, I prefer the suite. The whole ballet varies a lot in terms of listening quality, and the suite usually picks the best episodes. It's kind of like a film soundtrack- some of it works outside the original context, and some of it doesn't. For Stravinsky, definitely the whole thing. In his case the ballet music was intended to be a long stream-of-consciousness type of work, and reducing it to a suite is just gutting it.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

While I broadly agree with much that has been posted here about which ballets are not for listening to without the visual action and which others work fine for just listening to, I keep wondering why I would always want only a complete opera. OK, I do like the orchestral music (one suite and one symphony?) that Prokofiev derived from his operas but I also like the operas and would not really want just highlights. And I am also now wondering why I find myself relating to film music only when it is used as the basis of a convincing suite.


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