All told, Tschaikowsky wrote three ballets, plus a scattering of
incidental dances for operas, beginning with the surviving “Voyevode”
fragments. The composition of _Swan Lake_, first of the trio—the
others being _The Sleeping Beauty_ and _The Nutcracker_—originated in
a twofold impulse, the need for ready cash and a fondness for French
ballet music, especially the works of Delibes and the _Giselle_ of
Adolphe Adam, which Tschaikowsky regarded as archetype.
He evidently thought little of his initial effort, for shortly after
the Moscow production of _Swan Lake_ he recorded in his diary: “Lately
I have heard Delibes’ very clever music. ‘Swan Lake’ is poor stuff
compared to it. Nothing during the last few years has charmed me so
greatly as this ballet of Delibes and ‘Carmen’.” Per contra, the same
entry bemoans the “deterioration” of German music, the immediate
offender being the “cold, obscure and pretentious” C minor symphony of
Brahms!
Tschaikowsky was probably sincere when he described his own ballet as
“poor stuff” compared with Delibes’. That was in 1877. Performances of
_Swan Lake_ at the Bolshoi Theater had been flat, shabby, and badly
costumed. A conductor inexperienced with elaborate ballet scores had
directed. Modeste Tschaikowsky, in the biography of his brother,
testifies to this. Numbers were omitted as “undanceable,” and pieces
from other ballets substituted. At length only a third of the original
remained, and not the best. The ballet dropped out of the Moscow
repertory, and it was not until 1894 that the enterprising Marius
Petipa wrote to Moscow for the full score and produced _Swan Lake_
with brilliant success at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg,
on January 15, 1895. It has since remained a repertory staple, both
the current Ballets Russes and the Ballet Theatre having staged it
successfully. Pavlova, Karsavina, and Markova, among others, have
interpreted the heroine Odette, and Prince Siegfried has been embodied
by Nijinsky, Lifar, Mordkin, and Dolin. _Swan Lake_ was one of the
first ballets witnessed in his youth by Serge Diaghileff, founder of
the famous Ballets Russes.
Tschaikowsky first refers to _Swan Lake_ in a letter to
Rimsky-Korsakoff, dated September 10, 1875: “I accepted the work partly
because I need the money and because I have long cherished a desire to
try my hand at this type of music.” V. P. Begitche, stage manager of
the Bolshoi, offered 800 roubles (less than $500) and in turn granted
Tschaikowsky’s request for a story from the Age of Chivalry, making
the sketch himself. Tschaikowsky set to work in August, 1875, and had
the first two acts planned out in a fortnight, but the score was not
completed till the following March and for some reason held up for
performance until February, 1877.
The story, possibly of Rhenish origin, tells how Prince Siegfried woos
and wins Odette, the Swan Queen. At a celebration the prince is told
he must soon choose a bride. A flight of swans overhead distracts him
and a hunt is proposed. Siegfried and the hunters are at the lake-side.
It is evening. Odette appears surrounded by a bevy of swan-maidens.
She begs the hunters to spare the swans. They are maidens under the
spell of the enchanter Rotbart. Swans by day, they return briefly to
human form at midnight. The prince and Odette fall in love. Siegfried
swears she will be his wife. Odette cautions him about Rotbart’s evil
power. Breach of promise will mean her death. Rotbart brings his own
daughter to the court ball, disguised as Odette. Siegfried makes the
false choice of bride, and the pledge is broken. Discovering Rotbart’s
ruse, he hastens to Odette, who at first rebuffs him. Siegfried
blames Rotbart and Odette relents. At length Rotbart whips up a storm
which floods the forest. When Siegfried vows he will die with Odette,
Rotbart’s spell is shattered and all ends happily.
Tschaikowsky’s close friend and collaborator Kashkin is authority for
the statement that an adagio section in _Swan Lake_ was a love-duet
in the opera _Undine_ before it found new lodgings. Conversely, a
Danse Russe in the group of piano pieces, Op. 40, was written for
_Swan Lake_, thus balancing matters. Like _The Sleeping Beauty_ and
_The Nutcracker_, _Swan Lake_ is famed for its waltz. The score brims
with typical Tschaikowskyan melody, and probably for the first time
in ballet music a scheme of leitmotifs is used, two of the principal
subjects being the tremulous theme of the swans in flight and the
hauntingly wistful theme of Odette herself, assigned to the oboe
against soft strings and harp arpeggios. The music adjusts itself
snugly to the technic of pure classical ballet and solos and ensembles
are contrasted adroitly.