Tchaikovsky's ballet of the Nutcracker is based on Alexandre Dumas' translation of the original tale by E.T.A. Hoffman. Act One tells a story of how little Clara aids her magical Christmas gift (a nutcracker in the form of a soldier) defeat an army of mice.
As a reward, in Act Two, he takes her to his magic kingdom and introduces her to a variety of subjects in a colorful stream of character dances. Tchaikovsky was initially displeased with the scenario for the ballet, which would be his last, because it lacked real drama. However, he reconciled himself to it and completed the Nutcracker Suite,
Op. 71a, which was popular from its first performance, before going on to complete the entire ballet. His supply of lovely themes is endless, and he constantly provides brilliant orchestration. The ballet was not as successful as his other stage works when it first appeared, however, now the traditional Christmas ballet is so popular that its annual performance keeps many a ballet company afloat.
Brahms originally published his Hungarian Dances as two batches of piano duets in
1869 (numbers 1-10) and 1880 (numbers 11 - 21). The composer used Hungarian gypsy melodies and styles in fashioning these colorful pieces. They were quite successful at the time, but they've become best known in their later orchestral guises. Just how firmly Brahms' name can be attached to this music is a matter of some small argument. Brahms himself dressed only numbers 1, 3, and 10 in orchestral garb, and he refused to take credit for the melodies in the keyboard versions; he referred to them merely as arrangements. The three dances Brahms orchestrated are, like the composer's other works, reluctant to indulge in splashy effects. Martin Schmeling orchestrated numbers 5—the most popular of all—through
7, making more liberal use of triangle and cymbals than the other orchestrators.
Almost all the pieces depend on sudden contrasts between restraint and explosive energy while the first ten dances are, in general, more lively.
In the early 1920s, Ravel, among the most significant and influential composers of the early twentieth century, showed a particular interest in writing for the violin. In 1922, he decided to write a showpiece in the Hungarian manner for the young virtuoso violinist, Jelly d'Aranyi, incorporating as many technical challenges as he could devise. The first performance was set for a concert in London (1924) at the Aeolian Hall; Ravel however did not finish writing the piece until shortly before the performance, and d'Aranyi had only a couple of days to prepare it. The work was a huge success, both at its première and subsequently. The original accompaniment for the piece was for piano. Later in 1924 Ravel scored a version with orchestral accompaniment.

This charming violin work owes its generation to the unique relationship between
Tchaikovsky and his wealthy patroness, Nadezha von Meck. Effectively freeing the composer from any financial burden in life, this patronage carried with it the unusual
"rider" that the two parties were never to meet. This stipulation did not, however, prevent Tchaikovsky from enjoying the amenities of Mme. von Meck's lovely
Ukrainian estate when the mistress herself was away; during just such a stay in the spring of 1878 Tchaikovsky found the quiet grounds and comfortable home so much to his liking that he immediately set about commemorating the vacation by putting together the Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42 for violin and piano. The dedication of this three-movement musical truffle, the musical cousin of the Violin Concerto the composer had completed just one month earlier, is in fact made not to Mme. von
Meck, but instead to the estate itself: Braïlov. Perhaps the strongest piece of the three, and certainly the only one to have achieved any real fame of its own, is the
"Mélodie" in E flat major that concludes the group. It has a gorgeous violin melody that moves along in arch-shaped eighth note groupings, to which a very brief central portion in grazioso scherzando sixteenths provides some contrast. The little codetta at the end is as tender as music can be.
By all accounts one of the greatest violinists who ever lived, Pablo Sarasate received dedications from some of the most famous composers of the nineteenth century. He was less known as a composer, yet of his 54 published works, the technically difficult and inspiried Zigeunerweisen, stands out as being the most famous. Sarasate originally composed Zigeunerweisen for violin and piano, but later orchestrated the work. From the opening of Zigeunerweisen, it is clear that Sarasate had composed the piece as a vehicle for his impeccable technique and "tone of unsurpassed sweetness and purity." The sense Sarasate creates is one of a piece that is always beginning, never reaching its fundamental material. The fast and flashy coda shines its spotlight squarely on the soloist.