According to Tchaikovsky’s brother’s words, the composer was a big admirer of the ballet who was looking for any chance to employ his musical talent in the art of dance. However, the ballet was not considered as a high-quality form of art, but, on the other hand, a primitive endeavor for recognition that the talented and respected musicians tried to avoid participating into, Tchaikovsky, a well-known enthusiast of the ballet, was not afraid to immerse himself in the art of dance.
The reputation ascribed to the ballet was obtained due to the prevailing practice of the choreographers to set the rules and, more precisely, to dictate to the composers the detailed characteristics of the music they needed for the performance. It is not surprising that the music was primitive and did not leave the space for imagination and genuine enjoyment of the diversity of sounds.
Tchaikovsky, who accumulated enough recognition at that time, did not want to follow the common path of the ballet’s composers. He created the elaborated music capable of expressing the full drama of the human emotions and affairs, “he appears to have concluded that choreographers and dancers would simply have to adapt to his new way.” Although he always was cooperative and tried to alleviate the dancers’ adaptation to the complex music, the melody stayed deep and resonant while scores reduced the rhythmic nuances.
Moreover, through the music, he implemented the drama in other aspects of the ballet such as orchestration and even dances. The search for equilibrium in ballet music derived from Tchaikovsky’s admiration of the ballet and his excellence as a composer. The art of the ballet provided Tchaikovsky with the sense of a fairy tale, which he attempted to keep in all three ballets even though they resemble dark fantasies.