Sunday, December 11, 2011

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers (from The Nutcracker)

Image via Wikipedia
Continuing last week's Nutcracker theme for the Holiday season, this may be the most famous classical music associated with Christmas.  While Tchaikovsky's original ballet was not a major success, his twenty minute overture (including this, and last week's selections) became so popular at Christmas as to teeter on the edge of cliché

Teeter, but not fall.  The music rises to the occasion, so that even we who have heard it many, many times find ourselves humming along, perhaps despite our original, jaded intent.

And those of us who are luck enough to have children (or grandchildren) who haven't seen this - and who will watch this particular piece with eyes too young and unjaded that they shine all of their own accord, well that's all part of the holiday season.



Disney's original (1940) Fantasia is simply astonishing, even seventy years later.

1 comment:

  1. BobDecember 11, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    Melody such as that was the despair of the 20th century classical composer, and why they went off in a totally different direction that the audience was not willing at all to follow. If you wanted to hear lush, beautiful melodies such as the Romantic-era composers such as Tchaikovsky or Grieg composed, you had to listen to film scores.

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