P.I. Tchaikovsky's Music in Sergey P. Diaghilev's “Russian Seasons”

Main Article Content

Elena E. Potyarkina

Abstract

The article is devoted to P.I. Tchaikovsky’s music, which sounded in the “Russian Seasonsˮ
by S.P. Diaghilev. It emphasizes the importance of the composer՚s heritage in forming artistic preferences of the famous entrepreneur. The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the performances of P.I. Tchaikovsky՚s ballets various versions in Diaghilev’s enterprise, as well as using fragments from his works in the performances.


The main sources of this article are: J. Pritchard՚s Guide to the performances of Diaghilev՚s enterprise, Library of Congress archival materials (Serge Lifar Collection on Serge Diaghilev) and the French National Library (Bibliothèque – Musée de l’Opéra).


“Swan Lakeˮ and “Sleeping Beautyˮ versions appear in “Russian Seasonsˮ throughout their history. In addition to the review of these options, attention is focused on some significant changes associated with reducing or, conversely, the introducing various musical fragments. It is given the information about fragments of the ballet “The Nutcrackerˮ, which were used in some productions of Diaghilev՚s enterprise. The article considers examples of using Tchaikovsky՚s works in divertissement-type performances formed from the works by different composers. At the same time, it is focused on the special approach of the impresario to build an integral form of the performance. Thus, in the ballet “Le Festinˮ (1909), the importance of the unifying function of the finale is emphasized. Its musical basis was the last part of the Second Symphony by Tchaikovsky.


The article also highlights performing various works by the composer as part of the Historical Concerts and other events related to Diaghilev’s organizational activities.


Keywords: Russian Russian Seasons, S.P. Diaghilev, P.I. Tchaikovsky, The Russian Ballet, the ballets of P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Article Details

How to Cite
Potyarkina Е. Е. (2022). P.I. Tchaikovsky’s Music in Sergey P. Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons”. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 48(3), 79–89. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1381
Section
Musical Theater
Author Biography

Elena E. Potyarkina, Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow

PhD (Arts), Associate Professor at the History of Russian Music Department