Suite from "Swan Lake"

Peter I Tchaikovsky

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky (trans. Akira Yodo)

This work bears the designation Opus 20a.

General Info

Year: 1876 / 1989
Duration: c. 30:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Wind Gallery
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental

Movements

1. Introduction -2:55
2. Scène (Act II) - 3:25
3. Valse
4. Danses des petits cygnes
5. Scène
6. Scène finale

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo (doubling Flute III)
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet (optional)
B-flat Soprano Saxophone (optional)
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp (or Piano)
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Castagnet
Crash Cymbal
Glockenspiel
Marimba
Snare Drum
Tambourine
Tam-Tam
Triangle
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Tchaikovsky was not pleased with the initial reaction to his ballet Swan Lake. It would become immensely popular after his death, but an 1882 revival of it at the Bolshoi neither succeeded in bringing it into the repertory nor in pleasing the composer. Later that same year, Tchaikovsky asked his publisher, Pyotr Ivanovich Jurgenson, for a copy of the score, intending to distill a suite from it and possibly to revise the entire work itself. For various reasons, neither ever happened.

The Op. 20a suite performed today typically consists of six numbers, the first and last containing the work’s famous music associated with Odette and the swans. The second number is the carefree but spirited waltz from Act I, played in the ballet to accompany the Arrival of the Guests. The Dance of the Swans comes next, a memorable piece whose bubbly manner and brilliant writing for winds combine to make this short piece one of the more memorable numbers here. The next section, Scene (Pas d’action), is enchanting and mostly slow, featuring some delightful solo violin writing. The fifth number is the Hungarian Dance (Czardas), which becomes fast, rhythmic, and quite exotic in its latter half. As suggested above, however, it is the opening and closing movements that contain the most famous and probably the best music. The oboe introduces the fantasy-like theme -- one of the composer’s most memorable -- accompanied by harp. In the finale, this music begins with an Allegro agitato marking, thus heightening the tension in preparation for the story’s climactic events.

- Program Note by Robert Cummings for the University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 9 December 2018

Media

Audio CD: Bridgestone Symphonic Band (Shozo Ono, conductor)
Audio CD: Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra (Frederick Fennell, conductor) - 1995

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott Hanna, conductor) – 9 December 2018

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Douce Rêverie (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vernay) (1878/2020)
Scenes from "Swan Lake" (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1876/2016)
Themes from "1812 Overture" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1891/2008)
Themes from "The Nutcracker" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1891/1999/2010)

All Wind Works

The 3-Minute Nutcracker (arr. Conley) (1891/2010)
1812 (arr. Brown) (1880/1938)
1812 Overture. See also: Overture 1812
1812 Overture (arr. Lake) (1880)
1812 Overture (arr. Kimura) (1880)
1812 Overture (arr. Mol) (1880)
1812 Overture (arr. Laurendeau; ed. Schissel) (1880/1904/2010)
1812 Overture (arr. Whitcomb) (1880)
1812 Overture (arr. Williams) (1880/1997)
1812 Overture (tr. Patterson) (1880)
Album for the Young (Op. 39) (arr. Curnow) (1878/2007)
Andante Cantabile (arr. Safranek) (/1913)
Capriccio Italien (tr. Hindsley) (1880/1984)
Chanson Triste (arr. Reed) (1878/1989)
Characteristic Dances from "The Nutcracker Suite" (tr. Rogan; ed. McAllster and Reed)
Coronation March (arr. Van Grevenbroek) (1883/2013)
Cossak Dance (tr. Bourgeois) (2008)
Dance of the Jesters (arr. Cramer) (1873/1997)
Dance of the Reed Flutes (arr. Cook) (1892/1990)
Dance of the Reed Flutes (arr. Schwalbe) (1892/2015?)
Dances from The Oprichnik (tr. Bourgeois) (1872/2008)
Dances des mirlitons (arr. Buitenhuis) (1892/)
Douce Rêverie (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vernay) (1878/2020)
Echoes from a Russian Cathedral (arr. Singleton) (1878-1883/2005)
Entry March from "Swan Lake" (tr. Billis) (1877/1996)
Faeries (arr. Davis; adapt. Longfield) (1891/)
Fantasy on "March Slav" (arr. Bobrowitz) (1876/2019)
Festive Overture on the Danish National Anthem (arr. Godfrey) (1908)
Final Scene from "Swan Lake," Act IV (1876) (arr. Lienhart) (1876/2012)
Finale from "Concerto for Violin" (arr. Howey) (1878/2008)
Finale from Symphony in F minor No. 4 (arr. Balent). See: Finale from Symphony No. 4
Finale from Symphony in F minor No. 4 (arr. Brooks) (1878/)
Finale from Symphony in F minor No. 4 (tr. Hindsley) (1878/197-?)
Finale from Symphony in F minor No 4 (arr. Safranek; ed. Ragsdale) (1878/1912/2004)
Finale from Symphony in F minor No. 4 (arr. Sato) (1878/2014)
Finale from Symphony in F minor No. 4 (arr. Singleton) (1878/1912/2003)
Finale from Symphony No. 2 (arr. Williams) (1872/1880/2002)
Finale from Symphony No. 4 (arr. Balent) (1878/2005)
Gems of Tchaikovsky (arr. Clark) (1917)
Highlights from "1812 Overture" (arr. Hanna) (1880/1997)
Jurisprudence (arr. Godfrey) (1885/1909)
Le Lac des Cygnes: Act I, Scene 1 (arr. Nefs) (1876/)
Mad Russian's Christmas, A (arr. Phillips and Megaw) (1891/1996/2015)
March from "The Sleeping Beauty" (arr. Bourgeois) (1890/2018)
March Slav (tr. Daehn) (1876/1994)
March Slav (tr. Hindsley) (1876/197-?)
March Slav (orch. Simpson) (1876/2000)
Marche Slav (arr. Laurendeau) (1876/1906)
Marche Slave (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1917)
Miniature Overture from "Suite from 'The Nutcracker'" (tr. Rogan; ed. McAlister and Reed) (1892/2001)
None but the Lonely Heart (arr. Kimura) (1869/2007)
Nutcracker Fantasia (arr. Giroux) (1891/2012)
The Nutcracker Fantasy (arr. Yo Goto) (1891/)
Nutcracker Suite (arr. Lake) (1891/1924)
Nutcracker Suite (arr. Curnow) (1891/1987)
Nutcracker Suite (arr. Lavender) (1891/1999)
Nutcracker Sweets (arr. Corwell) (1891/2010)
The Nutty Nutcracker (arr. Hannickel) (1891/2006)
Overture 1812. See also: 1812 Overture
Overture 1812 (arr. Story and Smith) (1882/2012)
Overture from "The Nutcracker" (arr. Ballenger III) (1891/)
Petite Suite (arr. Cray) (1878/1946)
Polonaise from "Third Suite" (arr. Godfrey) (1884/1916)
Romeo and Juliet (trans. Hindsley) (1870/?)
Romeo and Juliet (trans. Holcombe) (1870/1981)
Scenes from "Swan Lake" (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1876/2016)
Scenes from "The Nutcracker" (arr. Story) (1884/2010)
Selections from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Hartman) (1884/2013)
Selections from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Longfield) (1884/1992)
Sleeping Beauty, The (arr. Bennett) (1960)
Sleeping Beauty: Waltz (arr. Eilhardt) (1889)
Sugar Plum Reggae (arr. Fraley) (1891/2012)
Suite from "Swan Lake" (tr. Yodo) (1876/)
Suite from the Ballet "The Swan Lake" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1911)
Suite No. 3 in G Major (tr. Winterbottom) (1884/1937)
Symphony No. 4 Finale (arr. Fyffe) (1878/2000)
Symphony No. 6: Third Movement Finale (arr. Daehn) (1893/2007)
Symphony No. 6 (arr. Hindsley)
- Symphony No. 6 -- First Movement (arr. Hindsley) (1893/197-?)
- Symphony No. 6 -- Third Movement (arr. Hindsley) (1893/197-?)
Tchaikovsky Ballet Suite (arr. Bourgeois) (2012)
Tchaikovsky Highlights (arr. Van der Beek) (2019)
Tchaikovsky Suite (scored Barnes) (1878/2004)
Tchaikovskyana (arr. Daehn) (1979/2015)
Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hits (arr. Moss) (2003)
Theme and Variations from "Suite in G Major" (arr. Winterbottom) (1884/1937)
Themes from "1812 Overture" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1891/2008)
Themes from "The Nutcracker" (arr. Huckeby) (1891/2010/2013)
Themes from "The Nutcracker" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1891/1999/2010)
Themes from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Johnson) (1891/1952)
Three Chorales for Band (with Handel and Pasquini; arr. Thornton) (1992/2004)
Three Dances from "The Maid of Orleans" (tr. Bourgeois) (1879/2007)
Three Onegin Dances (arr. Van der Beek)
Two Excerpts from "The Pathetic Symphony" (arr. Fletcher) (1893/1912)
Violin Concerto in D Major (trans. Lane) (1878/2020)
Waltz from "Sleeping Beauty" (tr. Lake) (1889/1937)
Waltz of the Flowers (tr. Lake) (1892/1919)
Winter from "The Four Seasons" (as arranger)

Resources

University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 9 December 2018