Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer in the Romantic Period of music. His music, in the Nationalist style, had a wide range, though Tchaikovsky is most famous for his ballets "Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty", and "The Nutcracker"(all of which have either been made into a Disney or Barbie movie, or both).He was born into a middle class family, and went to school to be a civil servant, but took extreme pleasure in all things musical. When Tchaikovsky was 21, he engaged in many homosexual escapades, until the scandal became too great. A year later he enrolled in the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he began his musical career.
"The Nutcracker" ballet is based on the book "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hoffman. Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write the music for the ballet in 1891, by the choreographer Marius Petipa. The most famous part of the ballet is the Nutcracker Suite, followed by the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The ballet is basically about a little German girl who falls asleep and dreams that her nutcracker and other Christmas toys and decorations come to life, and have to fight the Mouse King.
"Swan Lake" was fashioned by Tchaicovksy from Russian folktales. It tells the story of Princess Odette, who was turned into a swan by an evil witch's curse. The original production took place in Moscow 1877.
"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairytale about a girl who is trapped in a castle with a beast, and soon falls in love with him(much in the way Stockholm Syndrome affects kidnapping victims). But, unlike most kidnappers, the Beast turns into a prince. Tchaicovsky composed the music for this ballet.
