The Nutcracker (1892) is taken from E.T.A.Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrumkent the composer had used in his symphonic Ballad: The Voyevoda particularly in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Act II. The most recognizable parts of the score are the Trepak, the Waltz of the Flowers and the March. The Ballet contains surprisingly advanced harmonies and a wealth of melodic invention. The composer’s reverence for Rococo and late eighteenth century music can be detected in the Overture, the Entrée des Parents and Tempo di Grossvater in Act I. His sister’s death shortly before beginning the composition influenced him to compose a melancholy descending scale melody for ther Adagio of the Grand Pas de deux which had been induced by a wager that he could not write a melody based on the notes of the scale in an octave in sequence.