Centre for Dance Research, University of Roehampton

The Beauty of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Dr Maureen Gupta, independent researcher, USA
27 October 2015, 1-2pm, ED111 Cedar, Froebel Campus, University of Roehampton Free, all welcome, no need to book

Tchaikovsky’s music for ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ is unquestionably one of the great – if not the greatest – of ballet scores ever written. But what is it about this complex work that merits our accolades? In this presentation I aim to delve deeper into the music of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, showing how Tchaikovsky’s understanding of the ballet world of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, and his ability to expand – through music – the meaning of the ballet, distinguish his score. Focusing on the music related to Aurora – her adagios and variations – reveals much about the young princess. The Lilac Fairy’s harp timbre supports Aurora at times; and at others its absence enables her fledgling steps. As with Aurora’s choreography, her music gradually incorporates some of the fairies’ musical attributes. In her adagios, Tchaikovsky highlights Aurora’s essential strengths: her royal status, the powerful shelter of the Lilac Fairy and her sister nymphs, and in the finale, the love of Prince Désiré. Aurora’s three variations employ different solo instrument timbres to epitomize beauty and technical accomplishment. Further, Tchaikovsky structures the variations differently and offers a nuanced interplay between what lies on the surface – the texture and shape of the melodies – and the music’s harmonic underpinnings.

Maureen Gupta, an independent scholar, is a musicologist and dance historian currently writing a book on ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ and its establishment in the West. Her doctoral dissertation, from Princeton University, focused on Diaghilev’s ‘Sleeping Princess’ of 1921-22. She has taught at Columbia and for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.