The Nutcracker - Complete Ballet For Solo Piano

This Dover sheet music book contains the complete Nutcracker ballet music arranged for piano. When I say "complete", there are a few caveats. Of course, the famous Sugar Plum Fairy dance in included here - the reviewer who claims it is omitted is mistaken. Some of the modern names for the dances differ from the original names, so a casual glance at the contents might give the impression some things are missing but every dance is here. The modern Balanchine version of the ballet added a short section of music from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet between the departure of the guests and the battle with the mice; that section is not included because it wasn't written for the Nutcracker.As I understand it, Russian composer Sergei Taneyev originally created a piano arrangement from Tchaikovsky's full orchestral score, and Tchaikovsky himself later modified Taneyev's arrangement to simplify it. The publisher description of this book states that this is Teneyev's unabridged arrangement, but looking at the various editions on ISMLP makes me think this is Tchaikovsky's version. Taneyev's arrangement is, in parts, extremely dense and challenging, and Tchaikovsky simplified much of it to make it (in my opinion) more pleasing to play and listen to. Most of this sheet music is still pretty challenging and best suited for intermediate to advanced players; it's definitely not for beginners.If you look on the IMSLP website (International Music Score Library Project), you can find versions of the original Teneyev arrangement and the Tchaikovsky simplification. For some reason both arrangements (including the one presented in this book) omit four measures near the beginning of the toy soldier dance; however, if you can track down the 1982 Leningrad "Musique" edition of Tchikovsky's arrangement, those four measures are present. I don't know why those measures would be missing in any edition but I prefer playing as faithful a version as possible so I add them back in based on the Musique edition. I don't know if there are any other edits as I haven't played through the whole thing compared to the orchestral score but so far that's all I've found.The cover states it has "lay-flat sewn binding", but the 176 pages of this book are tightly bound with stitches and glue, and the book definitely does not stay anywhere near flat no matter how much you bend it. I have to use clips to keep it in place when playing. Such a thick book would be much better served by spiral binding.Aside from the binding, this is a nice edition and a fun challenge to play for fans of the Nutcracker. I'll be enjoying learning pieces from this book for many years to come.

Good quality book. Definitely for the advanced pianist - be able to play grade 6 to use this book :)

Delivered on time even during Xmas season. Good price, good quality of prinitng.

当方、バレエ講師をしており、ピアニストさんにこの楽譜をお渡しして弾いてもらっていますが、弾きやすい様子です。アレンジ次第で豪華にも弾ける感じですし、良い楽譜だと私は思います。

playing the piano