# Which Ballet Composed By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Is Your Favorite?



## P The D

Tchaikovsky composed three ballets, all of them have stayed at the forefront of the ballet repertoire. Which one's music do you enjoy the most?


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## Lukecash12

The Swan Lake Waltz is the epitomy of everything good in Tchaikovsky. All of the wonderful orchestration, melodic quality, and the method of cutting back on the rhythmic background makes it a breathtaking composition.


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## Tapkaara

Swan Lake all the way! Sleeping Beauty I find to be too sappy and The Nutcracker has (sadly) turned into a commercial Christmastime cliché.

Swan Lake has great orchestration, great tunes and a great sense of drama. I could never really appreciate it until I saw the San Diego Symphony perform an extended suite from it. I was blown away and have admired the music ever since.


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## Sid James

I like _The Nutcracker_ the best. I don't mind the fact that it's been over-hyped. It's the most accessible to me, althought the others are great too. But generally, I like Tchaikovsky's concertos much more, but then again, I am a sucker for virtually any concerto...


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## david johnson

i always enjoy a trip to the 'lake'.


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## cultchas

Swan Lake


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## haydnguy

For me, Swan Lake by a mile.


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## Tapkaara

Swan Lake is a surprisingly muscular score. Not many realize that, I think.


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## Lukecash12

Whatever occurred to people to make them think Ballet was so feminine? It's more heterosexual than Opera, in my opinion. Maybe it's because someone named a piece the Sugar Plum Fairy


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## Classical Review

I'll always be bound to say Swan Lake - not just because the music is utterly beguiling (nay, haunting), but also because this was the first complete classical music work I ever bought.

To go further, I owe my 'entry' into the world of classical music to my early experiences with Tchaikovsky's emotional writing and melodic brilliance.

FK


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## Aramis

I'm huge fan of Tchaikovsky, but never really cared about the ballets. If I had to choose it would be _Swan Lake_. Nutcracker is (IMHO) terrible and overrated.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

Well I grew up with the nutcracker and being the Christmas freak I am it was my choice. As for ballet...I cant really stand ballet. I love the music, not the dance. Now I can stand a Waltz any time but Ballet is just too blah.

Friends think I am odd for my hatred of Broadway when I love Opera. Ballet can be very good. But it seems like the 20th century destroyed it with 5 year old girls in pink tutus. I suppose it beats what the kids are doing these days.


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## Polednice

I get the impression that 'proper' critical opinion is in favour of the music of _Sleeping Beauty_, but I would have to side with _The Nutcracker_ - not least because too few people on this thread have voted for it thus far!

I don't mind in the least how the meme of _The Nutcracker_ has wormed its way so deeply into consumer culture; the effect it has had on the music, I feel, is not in the least bit as damaging as we find with the pieces by Mozart or Rachmaninoff _et. al._ In fact, I think I owe my appreciation of the ballet (above the others) to the fact that it is so deeply rooted in 'trivial' culture; from this, I have so many childhood associations with the music that listening to it is a markedly more magical experience.


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## Lukecash12

Truthfully, everything Tchaikovsky did for ballet was wonderful. He truly made ballet what it is today, just like Segovia and the classical guitar. It's all wonderful stuff.


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## shsherm

I saw performances of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake" both performed by The Royal Ballet in 1961 and both were performed by Margot Fonteyn at The Civic Opera House in Chicago and as far as the ballet itself I definitely enjoyed Sleeping Beauty more and I like the music more as well. Taste is individual.


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## emiellucifuge

Swan Lake dammit


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## Chi_townPhilly

I'm sure my answer will be unsurprising--

Since *Swan Lake* is not only my favorite Tchaikovsky ballet, but also my 
_all-time favorite Tchaikovsky composition_, the choice is obvious for me.


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## OutdatedPlaylist

Nutcracker


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## Herr Direktor

I like the one with the waltz best. 

Seriously, the answer is Swan Lake. Period.

HD


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## P The D

Herr Direktor said:


> I like the one with the waltz best.
> 
> Seriously, the answer is Swan Lake. Period.
> 
> HD


Then why did you vote for The Sleeping Beauty?


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## nickgray

The Nutcracker. And although it has been horribly mutilated by popular culture, I still think it's the best one.


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## Herr Direktor

P The D said:


> Then why did you vote for The Sleeping Beauty?


I would file that under "oops"

Maybe because I like the Sleeping Beauty waltz best....?

HD


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## Ravellian

The Nutcracker... probably because I spent several years ice-skating to it as a child, and that music always brings back wonderful memories of my youth.


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