Sax Choir

Four National Dances (from Swan Lake)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arr. Ben Tordoff

Composed:
1876 Arranged:
2025 Grouping:
lsSSAAACTTTBBbc Duration:
10:00

Initially considered something of a failure, Swan Lake has gone on to be one of the most successful ballets ever written. It tells the largely tragic tale of a princess cursed to live as a swan, the prince who tries and fails to save her, and their choice to die together rather than live apart.

Much of the music is understandably sombre or dramatic, but in the middle we have a series of colourful national dances as princesses from various kingdoms are introduced to the prince to try and win him over. Each dance is written at least partly in a form characteristic of the region:

From Hungary we have the Czardas, a traditional folk dance that is thought to depict a fight to the death. Starting in a cautious stately way, it ends in a frenzy as the victor dances for joy.
From Spain we have the Bolero, a popular dance of the 18th and 19th centuries that laid the foundation for the modern flamenco dances. It was typically performed as a solo dance with castenets and accompanied by guitar.
From the Kingdom of Naples we have a two part dance, the first half in a gentle folk style but ending in a classic tarantella, said to be the frenzied dance of those poisoned by a wolf spider.
The final dance is a typical Polish Mazurka, bright and uplifting, and in this version almost waltz-like.

Here we have reduced the full orchestral score down to 12 saxophone parts with additional parts for soprillo, C-Melody, and contrabass if you are lucky enough to have them. The solo feature in the Neopolitan dance is kept on trumpet but can be played on soprano sax if necessary.

This arrangement was created for Whittlesey Saxophone Choir who are lucky enough to have all the necessary saxophones as well as a (mostly) tame trumpet player.

If you enjoyed this piece, have comments or corrections, we'd love to hear from you.

This music is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.