Ludwig Minkus
Encyclopedia
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
music, a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
virtuoso and teacher.
Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres in Russia, where he wrote for the original works and revivals of the renowned Ballet Masters Arthur Saint-Léon
Arthur Saint-Leon
Arthur Saint-Léon was the Maître de Ballet of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet Coppélia.-Biography:...
and Marius Petipa
Marius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Among the composer's most celebrated compositions for these Ballet Masters were La Source (1866; composed jointly with Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
), Don Quixote
Don Quixote (ballet)
Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
(1869); and La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
(1877). During his career Minkus wrote a substantial amount of supplemental material for insertion into already existing ballets. Among these pieces, Minkus is most noted for the Grand Pas classique, Pas de trois and Mazurka des enfants written for Marius Petipa's 1881 revival of the ballet Paquita
Paquita
Paquita is a ballet in two acts and three scenes, with libretto by Joseph Mazilier and Paul Foucher. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Edouard Deldevez. First presented by at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera Ballet on 1 April 1846...
.
Today, Minkus's ballet music is some of the most popular and performed in all of ballet, and is a most integral part of the traditional classical ballet repertory.
Life
Ludwig Minkus was born Aloysius Bernhard Philipp Minkus on 23 March 1826, in the Innere StadtInnere Stadt
The Innere Stadt is the 1st municipal District of Vienna . The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Innere Stadt was congruent with the city of Vienna...
district of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the capital of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
. His father, Theodor Johann Minkus, was born in 1795 in Groß-Meseritsch, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
(today known as Velké Meziříčí
Velké Mezirící
Velké Meziříčí is a town in the Vysočina Region, Czech Republic. It is situated under the original Gothic castle in a valley framed by the hills of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands....
near Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, in what is now the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) and his mother, Maria Franziska Heimann was born in 1807 in Pest, Hungary. Minkus was of Jewish descent—his parents converted to Catholicism not long before their relocation to Vienna, and were married on the following day.
Minkus's father was a wholesale merchant of wine in Moravia, Austria and Hungary. He opened a restaurant in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna that featured its own small orchestra. This may have influenced the young Minkus—it is possible that he composed for his father's Tanzkapelle, one of many such orchestras in the imperial capital. By the age of four he began to receive private lessons in the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, and from 1838 to 1842 he began his musical studies at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien , was founded in 1812 by Joseph von Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre, Vienna, Austria. Its official charter, drafted in 1814, states that the purpose of the Society was to promote music in all its facets...
in Vienna.
Minkus made his public début at a recital in Vienna at the age of eight. On 18 October 1845 an announcement in the Viennese newspaper Der Humorist commented on the performances of the previous season, and noted that, " ... (Minkus's playing featured) a conservative style with a glittering performance." Soon the young Minkus was appearing in various concert halls as a soloist of note, having been declared a child prodigy by the public and critics.
Minkus began composing for his instrument while he was still a student. Five pieces for the violin were published in 1846. At this time Minkus began to try his hand at conducting. For a time he was the regular conductor of an orchestra that competed with another under the baton of the young Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
(in later years Strauss was acquainted with Minkus's brother Eugen, a bank director in Vienna).
Minkus's life from 1842 to 1852 is poorly documented—travel applications survive which show requests to visit Germany, France and England. In 1852 Minkus accepted the position of principal violinist to the Vienna Court Opera, but because this meant that he also had to fulfill the usual duties this position demanded, he resigned that same year to take up an important musical assignment abroad that would change his life forever.
Russia
In 1853 Ludwig Minkus emigrated to St. Petersburg, Russia to serve as conductor of the Serf orchestra of Prince Nikolai YusupovYusupov family
The Yusupovs are a Russian noble family descended from the Khans of the 10th century who, in the 18th and 19th centuries, were renowned for their immense wealth, philanthropy and art collections...
, a post which Minkus occupied until 1855. That same year, Minkus married Maria Antoinette Schwarz at the Catholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. Schwarz was also a native of Austria, born in Vienna in 1838.
From 1856 until 1861 Minkus served as principal violinist in the orchestra of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, and soon he was given the dual position of both conductor and principal violinist to the Imperial Italian Opera
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
of that theatre. In 1861 Minkus was appointed as Concertmaster to the Bolshoi Theatre, and by 1864 he was promoted to the prestigious position of Inspector of the Imperial Theatre Orchestras in Moscow. At this time Minkus was also working as professor of violin at the newly established Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
.
It was for the private performances at the Yusupov palace that Minkus composed what appears to be his first score for ballet: the mythological L′Union de Thétis et Pélée (The Union of Thetis and Peleus), first performed in 1857. During his association with the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Minkus composed another score for ballet, the one-act Deux jours en Venise (Two Days In Venice), produced in 1862. Later that year Minkus was called upon to compose an additional entr'acte
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
for Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
's score for Jean Coralli
Jean Coralli
Jean Coralli , born Jean Coralli Peracini, was a French dancer and choreographer and later held the esteemed post of First Balletmaster of the Paris Opera Ballet...
's ballet Orfa, staged for the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow by Arthur Saint-Léon
Arthur Saint-Leon
Arthur Saint-Léon was the Maître de Ballet of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet Coppélia.-Biography:...
. At that time Saint-Léon was one of the most celebrated Ballet Masters in Europe, and since 1860 he had served as Premier Maître de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position which also required him to stage the works for the Moscow ballet troupe.
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
, premiering at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. Minkus later accompanied Saint-Léon to mount this work in a new staging for the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra in Paris, again for the ballerina Muravieva. Reduced to two-acts, the ballet premiered on 11 July 1864 and featured the ballerina Eugénie Fiocre
Eugénie Fiocre
Eugénie Fiocre was a principal dancer at the Paris Opéra 1864–75 where she often danced en travesti, creating Frantz in Coppélia in 1870, and, renowned for her beauty, was sculpted by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and painted by Degas in a scene from Saint-Léon's ballet La Source...
in the role of Cupid (Fiocre is noted for creating the travestie role of Franz in Coppélia
Coppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
in 1870). For the Paris staging the ballet's title was changed yet again, this time as Néméa, ou L′Amour vengé (Néméa, or The Avenged Love), and was retained in the Parisian ballet's repertory until 1871, lasting fifty-three performances. Saint-Léon also mounted the work for the ballet of the Teatro Communale in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, where it premiered on 15 March 1868 as Nascita della Fiamma d′Amoure (Birth of the Flame of Love). The change of titles of this work has caused much confusion among historians, many of whom have claimed that each of these productions were completely different works altogether.
In the fall of 1866 Saint-Léon was invited to stage a new work for the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra. This was La Source, which was written by Minkus in collaboration
Classical music written in collaboration
In classical music, it is relatively rare for a work to be written in collaboration by multiple composers. This contrasts with popular music, where it is common for more than one person to contribute to the music for a song...
with the composer Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
. The division of labor was as follows: Minkus wrote the whole of Act I and the second tableau of Act III, while Delibes wrote the whole of Act II and the first tableau of Act III. Surviving documents and contemporary accounts do not offer an explanation as to why the score was shared between the two composers. La Source premiered on 12 November 1866, lasting seventy-three performance in the company's repertory until 1876.
Saint-Léon continued to work with Minkus throughout the 1860s. On Saint-Léon presented the one-act ballet Le Poisson doré (The Golden Fish), which was staged at Peterhof
Peterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace in Russian, so German is transliterated as "Петергoф" Petergof into Russian) for "Peter's Court") is actually a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the...
in honor of the wedding of the Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
to the Princess Dagmar of Denmark. For his subject, Saint-Léon chose a Russian theme based on Alexander Pushkin's 1835 poem Skazka o rybake i rybke
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish
right|thumb|The fairy tale commemorated on a Soviet Union stampThe Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish is a fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin wrote the tale in autumn 1833 and it was first published in the literary magazine Biblioteka dlya chteniya in May 1835...
(The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish). For the Imperial Ballet's 1867-1868 season, Saint-Léon expanded Le Poisson doré into a three-act Grand ballet that premiered on . The following season Minkus and Saint-Léon produced the ballet Le Lys (The Lily), based on a Chinese legend Three Arrows, and it featured a score by Minkus that was based on his music from La Source. The ballet premiered at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre on for the benefit performance of the ballerina Adèle Grantzow. In spite of his efforts, both Le Lys and the expanded Le Poisson doré proved to be catastrophic failures for Saint-Léon. In light of this the directorate of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres did not renew the Ballet Master's contract, and soon he re-located to Paris where he died in 1870.
Through his association with Saint-Léon and the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet, Minkus came to the attention of the renowned choreographer Marius Petipa
Marius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. Petipa arrived in the imperial capital in 1847, where he was engaged as Premier danseur to the Imperial Theatres, as well as assistant to the Ballet Master Jules Perrot
Jules Perrot
Jules-Joseph Perrot was a dancer and choreographer who later became Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia...
, who served as Premier Maître de Ballet to the company from 1850-1859. Petipa was named Deuxieme Maître de Ballet after the success of his Grand ballet The Pharaoh's Daughter
The Pharaoh's Daughter
The Pharaoh's Daughter , is a ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa, to the music of Cesare Pugni, with libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges from Théophile Gautier's Le Roman de la Momie...
, set to the score of the Italian composer Cesare Pugni
Cesare Pugni
Cesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
. Pugni had served as Ballet Composer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres since 1850, a post which was created especially for him when he accompanied Perrot to Russia that same year. By the mid 1860s the composer was nearing the end of his life and prolific career. As the decade drew to a close he became increasingly unreliable due to his severe alcoholism, often putting off composing to the last minute and supplying music of an increasingly poor and banal quality. Saint-Léon and Petipa were becoming more and more frustrated with him, and began to turn more and more to Minkus.
For the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre's 1869-1870 season, Petipa staged a Grand ballet on the subject of Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
's Don Quixote. Although plans were made to have a score supplied by Pugni, Petipa instead turned to Minkus, who supplied a score filled with a great variety of Spanish-styled flare. Petipa's Don Quixote
Don Quixote (ballet)
Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
premiered to a resounding success on , and went on to become a celebrated work in the classical ballet repertory.
Not long before Saint-Léon's death, Petipa was named Premier Maître de Ballet of the St. Peterbsurg Imperial Theatres, and in January 1870 Petipa's chief collaborator, the composer Cesare Pugni
Cesare Pugni
Cesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
, died. Petipa then staged a new version of his Don Quixote for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, and for this production Minkus completely reworked and expanded his score. This staging of Don Quixote premiered on , and instantly became a classic, earning Minkus great acclaim for his effective music. The success of the music earned for Minkus the post of Ballet Composer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, and marked the beginning of a productive collaboration between him and Petipa. Following the ballet's success, Minkus and Petipa produced La Camargo
Camargo (ballet)
Camargo is a "Grand ballet" in 3 acts/9 scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Ludwig Minkus. The libretto, by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Marius Petipa, is based on an incident in the life of the 18th century dancer Marie Camargo, in which she and her sister...
in 1872, an expanded four-act production of Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's Le Papillon
Le Papillon (ballet)
Le papillon is a "fantastic ballet" in 2 acts, with choreography by Marie Taglioni and music by Jacques Offenbach to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
in 1874, Les Brigands
The Bandits (ballet)
Les Brigands is a "Grand ballet" in 2 acts/5 scenes with prologue, with choreography was by Marius Petipa, and the music by Léon Minkus. Libretto by Marius Petipa, derived from Miguel Cervantes' novel La Gitanilla....
(The Bandits) in 1875, Les Aventures de Pélée
Les Aventures de Pélée
Les Aventures de Pélée is a ballet in three acts and five scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus, with additional music adapted from the airs of works by Léo Delibes...
(The Adventures of Peleus) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (based on Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's incidental music) in 1876, and finally La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
in 1877, which would prove to be Petipa and Minkus's most enduring and well preserved work.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's String Quartet No. 1 in D
String Quartet No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)
String Quartet No. 1 in D major was the first of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's three string quartets, and his Opus 11.The quartet has 4 movements:# Moderato e semplice # Andante cantabile...
, Op. 11, in Moscow on 28 March 1871. Minkus's scores featured violin cadenzas written especially for the great Leopold Auer
Leopold Auer
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.-Early life and career:...
.
In May 1883 Minkus wrote the music for Petipa's Nuit et Jour
Night and Day (ballet)
Night and Day is a "fantastic ballet" in 1 act/3 scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus....
, a sumptuous pièce d'occasion staged especially for the celebrations held at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow in honor of the coronation of Emperor Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. The Emperor, a fanatic balletomane, bestowed upon Minkus the Order of Saint Stanislaus
Order of Saint Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...
for his score. During the ceremony the newly crowned Emperor told Minkus " ... you have reached perfection as a ballet composer."
Petipa's Les Pilules magiques, which premiered was a grand work staged for the inauguration of the newly renovated Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, which was now the Imperial Ballet and Opera's principal venue. Les Pilules magiques was in the tradition of vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, and aside from Petipa's danced episodes included comedy and singing. Minkus naturally supplied the music for Petipa's danced passages in three fantastical tableaux that caused a sensation among the St. Petersburg balletomanes and critics. The first took place in a subterranean cave inhabited by sorceresses, while the second included various card games brought to life through dance. The third and final tableau was known as The Kingdom of the Laces in which a Grand divertissement of national dances from Belgium, England, Spain and Russia was performed.
Minkus's next score was for Petipa's one-act ballet L'Offrandes à l'Amour
The Sacrifices to Cupid
The Sacrifices to Cupid is a "grand ballet" in 1 Act/1 scene with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus....
, staged especially for the benefit performance of the ballerina Eugenia Sokolova on . Minkus's score was hailed as a masterwork of ballet music. Nevertheless Ivan Vsevolozhsky
Ivan Vsevolozhsky
Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky was the Director of the Imperial Theatres in Russia from 1881 to 1898.A competent administrator, Vsevolozhsky ran the Imperial Theatres with a determination for excellence...
, director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, abolished Minkus's post in an effort to diversify the music supplied for the ballet. Minkus officially retired soon after, and on was given a farewell benefit performance.
Retirement
Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
, the newly appointed Director of Music of the Imperial Ballet, supplied nearly all of the supplemental music for Cornalba's appearances in already-existing ballets. Petipa's Kalkabrino
Kalkabrino
Kalkabrino is a ballet in three acts/three scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Léon Minkus.-Première performance:The ballet was first presented by the Imperial Russian Ballet on February 13, 1891, on the Julian calendar , at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg,...
—a work that has been historically credited to Minkus—premiered on for the benefit performance of another visiting Italian, Carlotta Brianza, who in the previous year created the role of the Princess Aurora in the Petipa/Tchaikovsky The Sleeping Beauty. Although the score for Kalkabrino was credited exclusively to Minkus it is not certain if the composer took part in its creation, which Russian historians have claimed was a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of airs taken from the many works he composed for the Imperial Ballet during his long career in St. Petersburg.
Minkus and his wife Maria left Russia forever in the summer of 1891, relocating to their native Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The composer lived in semi-retirement on a modest pension from the Tsar's treasury. For a time he lived in the Karl Ludwig Strasse on the third floor of a rented apartment belonging to his friend, the revered pianist and teacher Theodor Leschetizky. These years saw Minkus's last known compositions: Die Maskenfest (The Masked Festival) was originally written by the composer as Tanz und Mythe (Dance and Myth) in 1897 for the ballet of the Kaiserliches und Königliches Hof-Operntheater
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
(a.k.a. the Vienna Court Opera). The ballet was rejected outright by the Operntheater's directorate Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, who felt that the work's libretto was out of touch with contemporary tastes. Minkus then composed Die Dryaden (The Dryads) for the Viennese stage in 1899, a ballet in one act. The final work associated with Minkus's name before his death was Rübezhal, staged in 1907 at the Court Opera to a pastiche of airs taken from his and Delibes's La Source and the works of Johan Strauss II.
Minkus later relocated to an apartment in the Gentzgasse where he spent his final years alone and in utter poverty, his wife having died in 1895, and the events of World War I having cut off his pension from Russia. During the extremely cold winter of 1917, Minkus developed pneumonia and died on 7 December 1917 at the age of ninety-one. With no children of his own, Minkus was survived only by a niece, Clara von Minkus.
Ludwig Minkus was interred at the Döblinger Cemetery in Vienna. In 1939 Minkus's grave fell victim to the national socialist policies of the time when all cemeteries were systematically "cleansed". Any graves of persons who were considered ethnically "undesirable" (especially if one was of Jewish descent), or without any documented subscriber to the annual cemetery fees were exhumed and deposited into a mass anonymous grave.
Minkus's Music
The fact that Minkus the composer fell into obscurity has much to do with the way ballet music was created and handled during his time as Ballet Composer in tsarist Russia. There, as in other parts of Europe, the ballet master had full rein over the scores provided him by the composer. Ballets of the 19th century were a marriage of dance and mime. The music provided for ballets had to be above all "dansante", with light, rich, lively melody, and an uncomplicated, regularly phrased rhythmic and orchestral structure, capable of accenting the movements of classical ballet. The music provided for the mime scenes and scenes of action had to set the mood of the drama. Minkus was contracted to compose ballet music on demand. He was obliged to score a new ballet every season, along with the constant revision of the music of already existing works for Petipa's numerous revivals.Like many of the specialist ballet composers before him, Minkus outlined the majority of his scores during rehearsals whilst the Ballet Master choreographed his dance fantasies, as well as putting to use the detailed instructions that the Ballet Master would provide, often known as composing music "to order" (even Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music was by Pyotr Tchaikovsky . The score was completed in 1889, and is the second of his three ballets. The original scenario was conceived by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and is based on Charles Perrault's La...
and The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
were scored "to order", with detailed instructions from Petipa).
It was well-known that Minkus maintained a cache of already-composed music in his home, divided into categories such as waltzes, polkas, adages, etc. which he would then select for a new work and orchestrate accordingly. Often Minkus would write four to five melodic passages for a particular variation or pas to be chosen by the choreographer, as well as tailoring the music to fit any changes. Many of Minkus's original scores contain numerous optional repeats of various phrases, anticipating cuts in production. There were instances where Minkus would compose music for a large ensemble dance in sections—an introduction, four or five melodic passages, and an ending—to be assembled by the ballet master depending on how much music was needed. Even more interesting, there were times where the music had to be composed for a pas that had already been choreographed! Minkus was often required to interpolate the music from other composers' ballets into his own works, almost always at the behest of a ballerina wanting to dance her favorite pas or variation from another work. These interpolations often required Minkus to tailor the music of any surrounding numbers for smooth transitions.
Most of the numbers in Minkus's ballets are in either double or triple time (2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 3/8, 6/8, 12/8, etc. are the majority of the time signatures Minkus used, though occasionally he composed dances in 5/4, and even alternating from 4/4 and 3/4, as in the Danse des esclaves from his 1877 score of La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
). 3/4 was the time signature that purveyed over the majority of his scores: Hindu temple maidens, under-water nymphs, Gypsies, Spanish bull-fighters, farm girls, magical fairies, gods and goddesses, princes and princesses, king and queens, whether they were alive or were ghosts, all danced to waltz rhythm.
One of Minkus's most revered strengths was his ability to create a vast variety of melodies (the principal element on which ballet music was judged in the 19th century). The ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
historian Konstantin Skalkovsky tells in his study In the Theatre World of how "Minkus's march from (his 1878 ballet), 'Roxana
Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro
Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro is a fantastic ballet in 4 acts, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Ludwig Minkus. Libretto by Sergei Khudekov and Marius Petipa....
' was the favorite piece of Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, who in general did not love music. Several units of the our troops
Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...
stormed the Plevna to the music of this march." Minkus's other celebrated talent was in composing for solo violin and solo harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, of which most of his compositions have a great deal (Minkus's violin and harp solos were written with the talents of the famous violinist Leopold Auer
Leopold Auer
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.-Early life and career:...
and harpist Albert Zabel in mind, who both served as lead violinist and harpist in the orchestra of the Imperial Theatres throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries).
Minkus's orchestra was large. One of his scores from Imperial Russia calls for strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
, oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, bass trombone, English horn
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
s, French horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, often 2 concert harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s (snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
and bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
), timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, and glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
. Occasionally Minkus found uses for the gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and castanets. Even with such a large ensemble, passages for full orchestra are rare, with Minkus almost always using the same combination of instruments unless a special mood was required, while only exploiting the brass to thicken the music when needed. The majority of the main melody in all of his compositions is almost always given to the first violin and flute sections, often doubled up with second violins and viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, giving two-part writing (often 2 violinists sharing the same manuscript would take turns playing so that the other could turn the pages!). Minkus was also quite fond of the bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, as well as pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
for double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, used mostly for marking time (his original orchestration for the scene The Kingdom of the Shades from his 1877 score for La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
is filled with pizzicato for double bass and bass drum). Such writing is not at all a testament to any lack of imagination on the part of Minkus—he simply wrote this way because it was faster, as he often had very little time to orchestrate after what was needed musically was decided by the ballet master, not to mention that a more complex musical structure would have been rejected by both the ballet master and dancers alike.
In Russia Minkus remains much respected for his abilities with ballet music, though in the west this is mostly a recent occurrence, as many musicians have been known to have little respect for the genre of 19th century ballet music. Many western ballet companies have chosen to perform Minkus's music in various reorchestrations done by a number of musicians, most notably by the composer/conductor John Lanchbery
John Lanchbery
John Arthur Lanchbery OBE was an English, later Australian, composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements.-Life:...
. In recent times more and more ballet companies have been making considerable efforts to go as close to the original sources as possible when staging ballets, and in that process the music of the old specialist ballet composers is beginning to gain respect.
In 2001, the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet (the former Imperial Ballet) mounted a reconstruction of the Petipa
Marius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
/Minkus La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
, which was staged using the Stepanov Choreographic Notation
Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov
Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov , dancer at the Imperial Ballet in Saint Petersburg. In 1892 he published a dance notation with the title L'Alphabet des Mouvements du Corps Humain. This Alphabet of Movements of the Human Body is a notation that encodes dance movements with musical notes and not with...
of Petipa's last revival of the work in 1900, part of the Sergeyev Collection
Sergeyev Collection
The Sergeyev Collection is a collection of choreographic notation, music, photos, décor and costume designs, theatre programs and various other materials relating to the repertory of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia at the turn of the 20th century...
housed in the Harvard University Library
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. For this reconstruction the Mariinsky Ballet unearthed Minkus's original hand-written score, thought for many years to have been lost. This antiquated score was hailed as a masterpiece of its genre as well as a phenomenal example of a long-vanished era in the history of ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
music.
Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg
- Fiametta, ou L′amour du Diable (revival of La Flamme d′amour, ou La Salamandre). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. .
- Le Poisson doré (expanded edition). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. .
- Le Lys. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. .
- Don QuixoteDon Quixote (ballet)Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
(expanded edition). Choreography by M. Petipa. . - La Camargo. Choreography by M. Petipa. .
- Les Brigands. Choreography by M. Petipa. .
- Les Aventures de Pélée. Choreography by M. Petipa. .
- La BayadèreLa BayadèreLa Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - Roxana, la beauté du MonténégroRoxana, the Beauty of MontenegroRoxana, the Beauty of Montenegro is a fantastic ballet in 4 acts, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Ludwig Minkus. Libretto by Sergei Khudekov and Marius Petipa....
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - La Fille des NeigesThe Daughter of the SnowsThe Daughter of the Snows or "La Fille des Neiges" is a "fantastic ballet" in 3 acts/5 scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus. Libretto by Marius Petipa, derived from the Russian fairy-tale Snegurochka by Alexander Ostrovsky, which the writer based on a Norwegian...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - MladaMlada (ballet)Mlada is a Fantastic ballet in 4 Acts/9 Scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Ludwig Minkus.The ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on December 2/14 , 1879 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - Zoraïa, ou La Maure en Espagne. Choreography by M. Petipa. .
Adaptations of already-existing music
- Le Papillon. Original score by Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
. Choreography by M. Petipa after Marie TaglioniMarie TaglioniMarie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
. . - Le Songe d'une nuit d'été. Original score by Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - Frisac, ou la Double Noce. Music arranged from the airs of Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
and Gioacchino RossiniGioacchino RossiniGioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - La Fille du DanubeLa Fille du DanubeLa fille du Danube is a ballet in two acts and four scenes. Choreography by Filippo Taglioni. Music by Adolphe Adam. Premiered September 21, 1836, by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris.-Revivals/Restagings:...
. Original score by Adolphe AdamAdolphe AdamAdolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
. Choreography by M. Petipa after Filippo TaglioniFilippo TaglioniFilippo Taglioni was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, the famous Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. He is the son of Carlo and father of both Marie and Paul...
. . - PâquerettePâquerettePâquerette is a ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon, and music by François Benoist.The ballet was first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on January 15, 1881 in Paris, France...
. Original music by François BenoistFrançois BenoistFrançois Benoist was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.Benoist was born in Nantes. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Prix de Rome in 1815 for his cantata Œnone. In 1819, he became organist and professor of organ at the Conservatoire; he held the latter post for...
in a version by Cesare Pugni. Choreography by M. Petipa after A. Saint-Léon. . - Le Diable à Quatre (as La Femme capricieuse)Le Diable à Quatre (ballet)Le diable à quatre is a ballet in 2 acts / 3 scenes, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier and music by Adolphe Adam, first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on August 11, 1845...
. Original score by Adolphe AdamAdolphe AdamAdolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
in a version by Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
. .
Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
- Deux jours en Venise. Choreography by ?. 1862.
- La Flamme d′amour, ou La Salamandre. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. .
- Don QuixoteDon Quixote (ballet)Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . - Nuit et JourNight and Day (ballet)Night and Day is a "fantastic ballet" in 1 act/3 scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus....
. Choreography by M. Petipa. .
Works for other venues
- L′Union de Thétis et Pélée. Choreography by ?. 1857. Private Theatre of the Yusupov PalaceMoika PalaceThe Moika Palace or Yusupov Palace was once the primary residence in St. Petersburg, Russia of the House of Yusupov. The building was the site of Grigori Rasputin's murder in 1916....
, St. Petersburg. - La Source (composed jointly with Léo DelibesLéo DelibesClément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
). Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. 12 November 1866. Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra, Paris. - Le Poisson doré. Choreography by A. Saint-Léon. . Olga Island Amphitheatre, Petergof, St. Petersburg.
- Les Pilules magiques. Choreography by M. Petipa. . Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.
- L’Offrandes à l'AmourThe Sacrifices to CupidThe Sacrifices to Cupid is a "grand ballet" in 1 Act/1 scene with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus....
. Choreography by M. Petipa. . Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Sources
- Anderson, KeithKeith AndersonKeith Anderson is an American country music artist. Before signing to a record deal, Anderson was one of several co-writers on "Beer Run ", a duet by Garth Brooks and George Jones, released in late 2001. Anderson was signed as a recording artist to Arista Nashville in 2004...
. CD Liner notes. Léon Minkus. Don Quixote. Nayden Todorov Cond. Sofia National Opera Orchestra. Naxos 8.557065/66. - Guest, Ivor. CD Liner notes. Adolphe Adam. Giselle. Richard Bonynge Cond. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Decca 417 505-2.
- Guest, Ivor. CD Liner notes. Léon Minkus & Léo Delibes. La Source. Richard Bonynge Cond. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Decca 421 431-2.
- Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Program from La Bayadère. Mariinsky Theatre, 2001.
- Petipa, MariusMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
. "The Diaries of Marius Petipa", translated and edited by Lynn Garafola. Studies in Dance History 3.1 (Spring 1992). - Royal Ballet. Program from La Bayadère. Royal Opera House, 1990.
- Stegemann, Michael. CD Liner notes, translated by Lionel Salter. Léon Minkus. Don Quijote. Boris Spassov, cond. Sofia National Opera Orchestra. Capriccio 10 540/41.
- Stegemann, Michael. CD Liner notes. Trans. Lionel Salter. Léon Minkus. Paquita & La Bavadere. Boris Spassov Cond. Sofia National Opera Orchestra. Capriccio 10 544.
- Warrack, JohnJohn WarrackJohn Warrack is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. He is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. From 1954–1961 he was music critic for The Daily Telegraph, and from 1961–1972 he was music critic for The Sunday Telegraph. From 1978–1983 he served as the Artistic...
. Tchaikovsky. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1973. ISBN 0684135582 - Wiley, Roland John. "Dances from Russia: An Introduction to the Sergeyev Collection". The Harvard Library Bulletin, 24.1 January 1976.
- Wiley, Roland John, ed. and translator. A Century of Russian Ballet: Documents and Accounts, 1810-1910. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. ISBN 0193164167
- Wiley, Roland John. Tchaikovsky's Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0193153149