The Nutcracker Suite – Arranged for Electronic Orchestra (Christmas 2010)

Click on the picture above to access “Nutcracker Suite” project art and music

Tchaikovsky selected the eight pieces that now comprise the Nutcracker Suite from the not-then-yet-performed Nutcracker, the ballet. Tchaikovsky performed the Suite in March of 1892, nine months before the first performance of the Ballet in December of the same year (1892) in St. Petersburg (RU, not FL). For many years, the Suite was performed more frequently than the Ballet. My recorded arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite for Electronic Orchestra is approximately twenty-one minutes in length. The two-act Nutcracker Ballet, although shorter than many other ballets, at eighty-five minutes, or more—is considerably longer than the Suite. The Nutcracker prominentely features several percussion instruments: harp, timpani, triangle, and chimes. During his travels, Tchaikovsky had become aware of the celesta, and was excited to introduce the instrument to the Russian audience in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

It was sometime in 2003 when I first embraced the goal to arrange/orchestrate and to record all the pieces of the Nutcracker Suite. After arranging and recording the first piece, the Overture, I realized that my goal to arrange/orchestrate and record the entire Suite would not be accomplished by me in a single year. So, I finished that year’s project by recording the majority of the Nicholas Economou (two-pianos/two-performers) version of the Suite.

Several years elapsed before I resumed work on the Suite.

In 2007, I recorded Dance Of The Reed Flutes. That project featured my first use of the orchestral software: “Synful Orchestra.”

The 2008 project included several additional original Nutcracker synthesized orchestrations: March and Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy. That project also included the single Nicholas Economou Nutcracker piano duet that I had not previously recorded in 2003, the Overture.

2009’s project added Waltz Of The Flowers.

The (2010) project features my final installment of original, synthesized Nutcracker orchestrations: Russian Dance, Arabian Dance, and Chinese Dance. Additionally, this version of the Nutcracker Suite re-records several previously recorded pieces—one work, rearranged to use current instruments (Overture), and four arrangements from previous years’ projects that I have revised and re-recorded this year to ensure consistent instrumentation and acoustic space. The electronic orchestra model that I employed is a medium-large one, and is detailed–with each instrumental section placed and spaced in both breadth and depth in the sound-stage. The auditorium’s acoustic signature was derived from the Grand Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. The nutcrackers featured in the accompanying, original 3D-modeled collage are photographs of a friend’s and my nutcrackers.

The music of the Nutcracker Suite contains extreme orchestral dynamics—from very, very soft (pp and ppp) to the loudest loud (fff) dynamics. As a compromise to the recording, during mastering of the audio, I made the decision to raise the volume of the softest sections in relation to the volume of the loudest sections. By doing so, I have attempted to create a musical program that still has exciting contrasts—but, with consistent-enough volume that you as listener can (hopefully) set the volume level without having to adjust it habitually while listening to the program.

I have been significantly rewarded by my study of Tchaikovsky’s wonderful orchestral score during these past years’ projects. I hope that you are enriched by listening.