The Nutcracker

Essay One Waltz of the Flowers† from The Nutcracker â€Å"Waltz of the Flowers† from The Nutcracker I watched Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker online for my first choice in my performance paper. This magnificent piece was composed by Peter Llyich Tchaikovsky during the Romantic period in 1892. This performance is performed by about 12 Ballerinas with the music being played in the background. â€Å"The Waltz of the Flowers† is actually ACT II from The Nutcracker, which is a very well known and amazing song. Tchaikovsky wrote this piece about a young girl named Clara that cannot wait for Christmas morning to arrive. She spends the whole night dreaming of intense dreams with extroidinary characters. This is why the ballet is always performed during the Christmas season. This piece is called a Waltz because the song is done in ? meter. The introduction starts with the amazing sound of the beautiful harps being played. This song has four different themes that repeat themselves. The first theme at the beginning, after the introduction, starts with a melody heard in French horns and clarinets and is repeated, but differently the 2nd time. The second them consists of violins. This theme adds drama and tension to the performance. The flutes start in on the third theme and repeated again with a more illuminated timbre. The fourth theme is heard only once and that is where the cellos come in for the melody. This melody is eloquent and passionate. There is so much detail in every part of this piece that you really have to pay attention to the music, which is what Tchaikovsky’s plan was when he wrote it. I really enjoyed watching this performance because the ballerinas moved so beautifully. They moved their hand to the music perfectly, which is where the Waltz come into the name. My favorite section of this piece is the introduction when you hear the harps playing. The ballerinas move so eloquently with the harps and it just amazed me. I also found myself swaying to the sound of the music without even realizing it because it is so relaxing. I am so thankful that this was one of our choices because I really enjoyed watching this and hopefully I will get a chance to watch it in a live performance one day.