Pantomime

Description

Violin 1, Violin 2, Violin 3, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Piano — Each year one of the most thrilling musical experiences many of us have is to attend a performance of the famousxa0Nutcracker Ballet.xa0It is amazing to me how many "hits" Tchaikovsky, wrote in one show! One of my favorite pieces within the ballet has always been the final scene from the first act. This music, to me, is awe-inspiring. Every time I hear it, it takes my breath away. I have always wanted to arrange this magnificent work for students to enjoy, so finally I got around to it. It was a challenging task to take a work that I already think is pretty close to perfect and then scale it down to strings alone and make it more playable for students.Within the ballet, this piece does not have a "real" title. It is simple titled,xa0Scene No. 8.xa0I chose the titlexa0Pantomime with a little help from some research by Barry O'Neal (Director, Concert Music at Carl Fischer) because in the early performances of this ballet this scene was often done as a pantomime and not as the "Pas de Deux" because there is already another section in the ballet with that title. To distinguish this piece for concert performance, the titlexa0Pantomime was selected. It is hoped that this arrangement will be used at other times throughout the year besides the holiday session. Since it is such a beautiful piece, and because it can serve to teach so much about musicianship, it would be a shame to relegate it to being played just once a year.It has been my pleasure to have the opportunity to write this arrangement. I hope that you and your students find it useful for your program.LARRY CLARKLakeland, Florida 2004