In the St. Petersburg performances of the three great ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), classical dance reached its peak and thus formed the starting point for the renewal of ballet in the 20th century.
The “March” is heard on Christmas Eve in the home of Mayor Silberhaus during the first act of “The Nutcracker,” which premiered in 1892. Listening to this world-famous ballet today, it is difficult to understand that Tchaikovsky put aside the work for a while because the inspiration he needed seemed to fail him.