Russian Dance (Nutcracker Suite)

About This Song

Russian Dance guitar sheet music; Russian Dance (Trepak, Трепак, Трoпак, Трiпак) refers to one of the most distinguished and celebrated dances in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, The Nutcracker. One of several consecutive ethnic dances in the ballet, it is based on the traditional Ukrainian folk dance known in Ukrainian as the Tropak or Tripak, a dance with Cossak origins. The “Trepak” often also goes under the name “Russian Dance” (the other ethnic dances of the ballet have dual names as well, e.g. “Tea” is also “Chinese Dance”).

The “Trepak” is arguably the most popular dance of the ballet (although a case could be made for both the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and the “Waltz of the Flowers”, which are actually heard more often than the “Trepak”). The dance makes common use of ethnic Ukrainian folk melodies. Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” is written in AABA form. Excitement, athletic prowess, and celebration all seem to describe this selection from the ballet and it is played in presto tempo, and is the key of G major. It is an animated dance in 2/4 time, and it is typically performed by men and features prisiadka (kicking the legs from a squatting position).

Russian Dance guitar sheet music: Mr. Pasero began the transcription from the orchestral score in 1982 and completed the work in 1984, recording it in 1985. It was first released on vinyl records, then cassette tape, CD, and now downloads and streaming.

About the composer:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Tchaikovsky’s melodies, stated with eloquence and matched by his inventive use of harmony and orchestration, have always ensured audience appeal.

Nutcracker Suite sheet music: March of the Wooden Soldiers, Dance of the Reed Flutes, Waltz of the Flowers, Russian Dance, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and more.