The Nutcracker ballet has an overture and 15 numbered pieces of music. Together they last about an hour and a half. The famous Nutcracker Suite is a shorter set of eight pieces that Tchaikovsky chose from the ballet for concerts. This page lists the full ballet in order, so you can follow a recording or a performance.
Tchaikovsky wrote the music in 1891 and 1892. The ballet was first danced in St. Petersburg in December 1892.
Before the curtain
Overture. A light, quick piece for the high instruments of the orchestra. There are no cellos or double basses in it at all. It is the first piece in the suite, where it is called the Miniature Overture.
Act 1: the party and the battle
1. The Christmas tree. The parents decorate the tree. The doors open, and the children run in.
2. March. The children march and play. This is one of the best-known tunes in the ballet, and it is in the suite.
3. Children’s galop and the parents’ entrance. A galop is a fast dance. The children race around, and the grown-ups arrive in fine clothes.
4. Drosselmeyer arrives. The music turns odd and a little spooky. He shows his dancing dolls.
5. The nutcracker and Grandfather’s dance. Drosselmeyer gives Clara the nutcracker, and Fritz breaks it. Clara rocks it to sleep. The party ends with an old German dance that guests once danced at the end of a ball.
6. Clara and the Nutcracker. The guests leave. Clara comes back alone. The clock strikes midnight, and the tree grows. The music climbs higher and louder, step by step.
7. The battle. The toy soldiers fight the mice. Listen for drum rolls, a trumpet call, and one loud shot.
8. A pine forest in winter. The Nutcracker turns into a prince. The music is slow and grand, with harps.
9. Waltz of the Snowflakes. Snow falls and the snowflakes dance. A choir sings with no words. It is often a children’s choir.
Act 2: the Land of Sweets
10. The magic castle. The curtain rises on the Land of Sweets. Harps and the celesta play.
11. Clara and the Prince. The two arrive. The Prince tells the story of the battle, and you can hear the battle music return.
12. The dances of the sweets. Six short dances in a row. A set of dances like this is called a divertissement.
- Chocolate: Spanish Dance. A trumpet tune with castanets.
- Coffee: Arabian Dance. Slow and quiet, over a low drone.
- Tea: Chinese Dance. A high flute over bouncing bassoons. It lasts about one minute.
- Trepak: Russian Dance. The fastest dance, with a tambourine.
- Dance of the Reed Flutes. Three flutes play together.
- Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles. A jolly dance built on French children’s songs.
13. Waltz of the Flowers. It opens with a long solo for the harp. Then the horns play the waltz tune.
14. Pas de deux. A dance for two, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her partner. It has four parts. They dance together, he dances alone, she dances alone, and they finish together. Her solo is the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” played on the celesta.
15. Final waltz and apotheosis. Everyone dances. The last pages return to the music of the magic castle as the story ends.
What the suite leaves out
The Nutcracker Suite has eight pieces: the Miniature Overture, the March, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” the Russian Dance, the Arabian Dance, the Chinese Dance, “Dance of the Reed Flutes,” and “Waltz of the Flowers.”
It leaves out the whole story of Act 1 after the March: the growing tree, the battle, and the snow. It leaves out the Spanish Dance, Mother Ginger, and most of the dance for two. A family that knows only the suite will meet a good deal of new music at the ballet.
The suite came first. Tchaikovsky conducted it at a concert in March 1892, nine months before the ballet opened.
Three pieces to add at home
If your child knows the suite, add these three before a trip to the ballet.
- Number 6, the growing tree. Ask your child to rise from the floor as the music climbs.
- Number 9, “Waltz of the Snowflakes.” Listen for the voices.
- Number 14, the first part of the dance for two. The cellos play a tune that is a plain scale going down. Sing down the scale with them.
Print and play
The Nutcracker Suite listening guide takes the eight suite pieces one at a time. Tick them off on the Nutcracker listening map. The December listening calendar gives one piece a day until Christmas Eve.
To match the music to the people on stage, read Nutcracker characters. For the composer, read Tchaikovsky for kids. For more guides, see classical music listening guides for kids.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.