# Which are your three favorite ballets from the ones below?



## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

These are the first fifteen ballet entries from the _TC recommended top 200 orchestral works_ according to *this post*. They here are out of the original order.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

First and second were easy: Sacre and Daphnis.

The third was a much more difficult choice, in the end I went for Petrushka.


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## Shosty (Mar 16, 2020)

I voted for the Rite of Spring, the Miraculous Mandarin and Romeo & Juliet because they instantly gripped me from the first time I listened to them and I return to them more than others on this list.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Rite of Spring and Petrushka are essentially locked in my first two positions. At first I was going to easily choose Daphnis, but I think Romeo and Juliet might be the most perfect ballet ever composed in terms of “danceable” qualities so that’s what I went with. Consider it tied with Ravel for my third place.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

Seems we're talking just about the music. I've only seen three of these as actual ballets, but I know the music very well. And it's hard to pick three because I love about ten of these! But I had to go with _El amor brujo_, _Petrushka_, and _Le sacre du printemps_. I'm a de Falla nut, so I was about to pick _El sombrero de tres picos_ second, but I couldn't leave out Stravinsky and Ravel.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Funny thing about ballet music is that most everyone knows it from concerts and recordings. Very few of these show up in live ballet performances. The Tchaikovsky ballets are pretty common, and the Prokofiev too. I've seen some of them danced on DVD.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

No Copland? That surprises me.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I join in with those who enjoy these in the purely musical format, and the three I chose (Daphnis et Chloé - Ravel / The Rite of Spring - Stravinsky / The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky) are all "concertos for orchestra" by their respective composers. Who needs the dancers when you have so much wonderful music making going on.

As danced ballets all three of these become something else for me. I view ballet (a unified combination of dance theatre and music) as something distinct from concert music, and I enjoy them in different ways. When watching a ballet I tend to split my attention and view the physical goings-on with a balance toward the musical goings-on -- not always an easy thing to do, either. Sometimes the one or the other starts to take precedence, and that's not a good thing. (And I always pay some attention to the set design of the ballet, too, though I realize that when one raves about the set design over the other parts of a theatrical presentation something is likely wrong with the presentation as a unity.)

But, great music here, in these three scores I picked. And all the others, too.


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

Shosty said:


> I voted for the Rite of Spring, the Miraculous Mandarin and Romeo & Juliet because they instantly gripped me from the first time I listened to them and I return to them more than others on this list.


Exactly the same...


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

No Léo Delibes?


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My votes:

Jeux 
Daphnis
El amor brujo


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

My three favorites:
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
Tchaikovsky The Sleeping Beauty
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Gotta go with my boy Stravinsky, and for the third, the Prokofiev.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

i think the Nutcracker is one of the greatest works ever written.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Itullian said:


> i thin the Nutcracker is one of the greatest works ever written.


I wonder how many ballet companies there would be today without it.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Tough Choice!! some really great music here...

Le Sacre
Miraculous Mandarin
El Amor Brujo


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Really tough choice, a lot of excellent works here. I recently listened to both Fallas and was reminded how great those are. Love the Bartok too... but in the end had to go with:

Daphnis
Jeux
Nutcracker


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

From the ones listed as choices I went with Bartók's _The Miraculous Mandarin_, Stravinsky's _Le sacre du printemps_ and Debussy's _Jeux_. I like ballets that are on the shorter side and I was going to pick Prokofiev's _Romeo & Juliet_, but I always felt it to be a bit too long, but it does contain extraordinary moments throughout. Other favorite ballets that weren't listed: Vaughan Williams' _Job_, Stravinsky's _Apollon musagète_, Prokofiev's _Le pas d'acier_, Copland's _Appalachian Spring_ and _Billy the Kid_, Schnittke's _Peer Gynt_, Szymanowski's _Harnasie_, Ginastera's _Estancia_, Villa-Lobos' _Gênesis_ and so many others.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

In the order in which they appear on the list above:

Firebird
Swan Lake
El Sombrero de Tres Picos.

It'll never get on such a list, but I think my favourite ballet music of all is Glazunov's "The Seasons".


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I chose Pulcinella, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker. A difficult choice from this list. I have had the chance to perform The Nutcracker (in the pit, not on stage in a tutu) and I've seen Romeo and Juliet staged. I just really really like Pulcinella.


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

I saw the NUTCRACKER and SWAN LAKE 4 years ago in belgrade in russian performance and was so enchanted by sounds, colours etc...I even convinced mum and aunt who are not fans of classical musick 2 go along and they positively enjoyed every minute...For me it was a firework of skills and artistry in movements, costumes and façades made on the stage...It weas not cheap but it was worthy of every ''dinar'' I paid...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'd like to have seen Prokofiev's _Cinderella_ on the list. It was the first ballet score I ever heard - bits were used on a 45rpm "little golden record" I had as a child - and I've never gotten over finding it magical. Of those listed, I picked Prokofiev's _Romeo and__ Juliet,_ Stravinsky's _Firebird_ and Tchaikovsky's _Sleeping Beauty,_ all works that for me embody the essence of a romantic art form.

To anyone who hasn't seen it, I recommend the film of _Romeo and Juliet_ with Nureyev and Fonteyn.


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

What i really liked in those 2 was a feeling of innocence, security and warmth they gave me...It was really COLD outside, a harsh winter and I was there, inside, in the night tucked away in a dream, far away from harsh reality, I wass so excited, but also very sad when it all ended, pure magick, I thought ppl exaggerate b4 when they told me about their experiences...I hope my mum in her last hours and minutes remembered this and just entered the realm of fairytale 4ever...:tiphat:


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Neo Romanza said:


> I like ballets that are on the shorter side and I was going to pick Prokofiev's _Romeo & Juliet_, but I always felt it to be a bit too long, but it does contain extraordinary moments throughout.


I agree with this. Prokofiev himself has been quoted as saying "What can be worse than a long symphony?". Of course the form in this work is not symphonic but for me stretches a little past what the composer was able to match in inspiration. I was listening to the work yesterday and my impression was that it certainly has some fine moments but is interspersed with a lot of music that I find closer to the mediocre side of the spectrum. I'm surprised that it is the top vote getter on this poll. A good work, but not great in my view and I am a big fan of Prokofiev. I listen more to his symphonies, concertos and piano works.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Tschaikowskys all three!


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

tdc said:


> . . . Prokofiev himself has been quoted as saying "What can be worse than a long symphony?". . . .


Perhaps a bad symphony, no matter the length?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

JAS said:


> Perhaps a bad symphony, no matter the length?


I'll take a bad short symphony over a bad long one.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

None of the above.
Ballet music only below:

1. *Sisyphos* (1954), by Karl-Birger Blomdahl










2. Malcolm Arnold's 1963 *Electra*










3. Eero Hämeenniemi's *Loviisa* (1986)


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

tdc said:


> I agree with this. Prokofiev himself has been quoted as saying "What can be worse than a long symphony?". Of course the form in this work is not symphonic but for me stretches a little past what the composer was able to match in inspiration. I was listening to the work yesterday and my impression was that it certainly has some fine moments but is interspersed with a lot of music that I find closer to the mediocre side of the spectrum. I'm surprised that it is the top vote getter on this poll. A good work, but not great in my view and I am a big fan of Prokofiev. I listen more to his symphonies, concertos and piano works.


Yes, indeed. The same could be said of his last ballet, _Tale of the Stone Flower_. It just goes on and on and on. Again, there many fine moments as with _Romeo & Juliet_, but I find my attention wandering after about 30 minutes into it. Have you heard his other ballets like _Chout_, _On the Dnieper_, _Cinderella_, _The Prodigal Son_ or _Le pas d'acier_? I find all of these ballets to be more of 'my thing' compared to _Tale of the Stone Flower_ and _Romeo & Juliet_. Even with a favorite composer of mine like Shostakovich, I felt his two ballets _The Bolt_ and _The Golden Age_ were way too long given their musical material. Usually when I want to listen to either of these works, I'll listen to the suites. Two other ballets I like a lot are Rousel's _Le Festin de l'araignée_ and _Bacchus et Ariane_. Another one of my absolute favorite composers, Martinů, has several good ones: _Who is the Most Powerful in the World?_, _Špalíček_, _The Butterfly that Stamped_, _Le Raid merveilleux_, _La revue de cuisine_ and _On Tourne_.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Neo Romanza said:


> Yes, indeed. The same could be said of his last ballet, _Tale of the Stone Flower_. It just goes on and on and on. Again, there many fine moments as with _Romeo & Juliet_, but I find my attention wandering after about 30 minutes into it. Have you heard his other ballets like _Chout_, _On the Dnieper_, _Cinderella_, _The Prodigal Son_ or _Le pas d'acier_? I find all of these ballets to be more of 'my thing' compared to _Tale of the Stone Flower_ and _Romeo & Juliet_. Even with a favorite composer of mine like Shostakovich, I felt his two ballets _The Bolt_ and _The Golden Age_ were way too long given their musical material. Usually when I want to listen to either of these works, I'll listen to the suites. Two other ballets I like a lot are Rousel's _Le Festin de l'araignée_ and _Bacchus et Ariane_. Another one of my absolute favorite composers, Martinů, has several good ones: _Who is the Most Powerful in the World?_, _Špalíček_, _The Butterfly that Stamped_, _Le Raid merveilleux_, _La revue de cuisine_ and _On Tourne_.


No, I haven't listened to those other Prokofiev ballets, nor most of the others you mentioned. Some of the music of Rousel and Martinu I have listened to I have enjoyed, so I would like to hear those works as well at some point. Thanks for the recommendations.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Swan Lake - Isn't it more like, Swoon Lake? 
NutCracker - It always Cracks Me Up and Drives Me Nuts. 
Sleeping Beauty - I can't tell which is more cringey, the name or the music. 
I would rather listen to this repeatedly for the equal amount of time that takes to listen to them all:


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

tdc said:


> "What can be worse than a long symphony?".







I'm reminded of quotes like:

_"Wagner has beautiful moments, but awful quarters of an hour."_ -G. Rossini
_"There is more music in Chopin's tiny C-minor Prélude than in the four hours of the trumpeting in Les Huguenots."_ -G. Sand


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

tdc said:


> I'll take a bad short symphony over a bad long one.


True, but not the original question.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Is this question about ballet or concert music? It appears the answers are about the latter.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Since the OP said "from the TC recommended top 200 orchestral works", I assume it's about the music.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

jegreenwood said:


> No Copland? That surprises me.


Surprise?? I hardly read of any comments about this composer so it goes....


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Neo Romanza said:


> Yes, indeed. The same could be said of his last ballet, _Tale of the Stone Flower_. It just goes on and on and on. Again, there many fine moments as with _Romeo & Juliet_, but I find my attention wandering after about 30 minutes into it. Have you heard his other ballets like _Chout_, _On the Dnieper_, _Cinderella_, _*The Prodigal Son*_ or _Le pas d'acier_? I find all of these ballets to be more of 'my thing' compared to _Tale of the Stone Flower_ and _Romeo & Juliet_. Even with a favorite composer of mine like Shostakovich, I felt his two ballets _The Bolt_ and _The Golden Age_ were way too long given their musical material. Usually when I want to listen to either of these works, I'll listen to the suites. Two other ballets I like a lot are Rousel's _Le Festin de l'araignée_ and _Bacchus et Ariane_. Another one of my absolute favorite composers, Martinů, has several good ones: _Who is the Most Powerful in the World?_, _Špalíček_, _The Butterfly that Stamped_, _Le Raid merveilleux_, _La revue de cuisine_ and _On Tourne_.


But it's much more exciting to watch "The Prodigal Son."


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Bigbang said:


> Surprise?? I hardly read of any comments about this composer so it goes....


He has three ballets listed in TC's top 200 orchestral works. Appalachian Spring is number 20.

And was any Tchaikovsky ballet tune ever used as the basis for an entire advertising campaign?


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


> Swan Lake - Isn't it more like, Swoon Lake?
> NutCracker - It always Cracks Me Up and Drives Me Nuts.
> Sleeping Beauty - I can't tell which is more cringey, the name or the music.
> I would rather listen to this repeatedly for the equal amount of time that takes to listen to them all:


Not sure about the music, but it has quite a profound message.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Swan Lake
The Nutcracker
Sleeping Beauty

I would also throw in Glazunov's Raymonda.

For me this is mostly orchestral music, although I have attended the Nutcracker as a ballet a couple of times, and possibly Swan Lake many, many moons ago.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Romeo and Juliet - Prokofiev
The Sleeping Beauty - Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky



In no particular order


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