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Seasonal Cartoon: The Nutcracker Suite -- Act V
13 years ago
General
The Trepak, or Russian Dance features the Thistle Boys and Orchid Girls:
As with the Blossom Ballet, the book's description of this lively dance is quite lengthy, and it details a number of antics from the Bug Orchestra, which of course never made it to the final film. Here's an excerpt:
The trombones blared out the tune, low and strident, as the rest of the orchestra accompanied them brightly. The potato-bug trombonists blew with all the breath they had, blew until the flower ends of their horns trembled violently. Their little assistants raced back and forth frantically, pushing the trombone slides, now up, now down, to make the right notes come out. They kept their eyes on the conductor's baton, which waved up and down in faster and faster tempo. They got to the last trombone notes, and just in time, for the rest of the orchestra snatched the melody from them and dashed ahead with it. Flutes, oboes, clarinets, English horns, bassoons and strings raced merrily along, as the tambourines crashed in time to the stamping of the Cossacks' boots.
The first violinist's right arm was weak from so much furious bowing. It fell to his side, but the conductor reached over and wrapped the musician's knuckles with his baton. Back to work went the vionlinist. The upper lip of the flute player was swollen and sore, but he kept on playing, looking longingly at the end of the page and the last note of the whirlwind dance. One of the bass viol players could no longer hold down the big strings in his instrument. Several bees, who saw his difficulty, came from the woods and helped him by sitting down hard on the strings in just the right places.
Despite these difficulties the music went on, still growing louder, still growing faster. On the stage, the thistles were doing breath-taking acrobatic stunts as the climax of the dance. Cartwheels, front flips, back flips, all in perfect time with the pounding music. Then, with a tremendous crash of tambourines and a thundering roll of the drums, the music stopped! The dance was ended. From the orchestra -- not a sound. On the stage -- not a movement. There was nothing but a clump of thistles and orchids blooming in the sun on the banks of a quiet stream.
As with the Blossom Ballet, the book's description of this lively dance is quite lengthy, and it details a number of antics from the Bug Orchestra, which of course never made it to the final film. Here's an excerpt:
The trombones blared out the tune, low and strident, as the rest of the orchestra accompanied them brightly. The potato-bug trombonists blew with all the breath they had, blew until the flower ends of their horns trembled violently. Their little assistants raced back and forth frantically, pushing the trombone slides, now up, now down, to make the right notes come out. They kept their eyes on the conductor's baton, which waved up and down in faster and faster tempo. They got to the last trombone notes, and just in time, for the rest of the orchestra snatched the melody from them and dashed ahead with it. Flutes, oboes, clarinets, English horns, bassoons and strings raced merrily along, as the tambourines crashed in time to the stamping of the Cossacks' boots.
The first violinist's right arm was weak from so much furious bowing. It fell to his side, but the conductor reached over and wrapped the musician's knuckles with his baton. Back to work went the vionlinist. The upper lip of the flute player was swollen and sore, but he kept on playing, looking longingly at the end of the page and the last note of the whirlwind dance. One of the bass viol players could no longer hold down the big strings in his instrument. Several bees, who saw his difficulty, came from the woods and helped him by sitting down hard on the strings in just the right places.
Despite these difficulties the music went on, still growing louder, still growing faster. On the stage, the thistles were doing breath-taking acrobatic stunts as the climax of the dance. Cartwheels, front flips, back flips, all in perfect time with the pounding music. Then, with a tremendous crash of tambourines and a thundering roll of the drums, the music stopped! The dance was ended. From the orchestra -- not a sound. On the stage -- not a movement. There was nothing but a clump of thistles and orchids blooming in the sun on the banks of a quiet stream.
Major Matt Mason
~marmelmm
