The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) [Paperback]

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (Author), Music Scores (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2004 | Series: Dover Music Scores

A masterpiece of orchestration, it features the historic first use of the celesta in Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy and is essential study for students of orchestral combinations and effects. Musicians will rejoice in this publication of previously difficult-to-find favorites such as Waltz of the Snowflakes and Spanish Dance (Chocolate).

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (September 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486438368
• ISBN-13: 978-0486438368
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #670,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Tchaikovsky

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, an affordable complete Nutcracker!, July 5, 2005

By 

J. L. Harper (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) (Paperback)

I have long awaited this publication. Shortly after I purchased the Nutcracker Suite from Dover 6 years ago, I wrote them multiple times asking them to consider publishing the complete work, but I was disappointed until now.

A reprint of an "Authoritative Early [Russian?] Edition," the score is very pleasingly engraved, close-spaced but not overly crowded. In the front, there is a translation of all the Russian notes that occur in the text, and all of the French stage directions are translated in footnotes at the bottom of the pages. Though it is over 500 pages, Dover has used paper thinner than their norm (yet with virtually no bleed-through), so the book is not too thick. It is, however, a little floppier than most of my other Dover scores. That, though, is a very small price to pay finally to own a full score of this most-popular ballet!

Finally, I can study the orchestration in some of the gems not found in the suite, such as the Waltz of the Snowflakes, Chocolate (Spanish Dance), and others--in an edition that is both affordable and well-made. I had been able to borrow a copy of the 2-volume paperback Kalmus edition (atrociously expensive for a student's budget) from my college library, and I was shocked at how poorly it was bound. The spine cracked after one or two GENTLE usings and pages were about to fall out. Such will not be the case with this Dover edition. I look forward to many years of pleasant study and enjoyment with this volume.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last: the real thing., December 4, 2006

By 

MusicMad (Metuchen, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) (Paperback)

I finally broke down and bought this excellent reprint of the full score. It completes my circle of "Nutcracker" appreciation: first as music (as a kid - two recordings and the piano pieces that drove my parents crazy), then as ballet (as a teen, the first ballet I ever saw), then as orchestration (as the celesta player - "I AM Sugar-Plum!"), and now I can look at the score with full appreciation, with more than one exclamation of "So THAT'S how he did it!" Everything from the translated Russian to the French stage directions adds to the value of this highly affordable publication. A real joy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars at last a cheap clear score of the nutcracker, August 18, 2005

By 

Brian H. Allen "Brian H Allen" (sydney australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet in Full Score (Dover Music Scores) (Paperback)

at last a cheap, clear score of the nutcracker ballet. it seems to be a new engraving, not just a reprint of a 19th century edition. the orchestration is as fresh as ever and the score lets you into the nitty gritty of tchaikovsky's inspiration for this his last ballet. I hope we don't wait too long for similar editions of sleeping beauty and swan lake. have fun and enjoy.