Tchaikovsky Complete Ballet Scores...

[SelfTaughtMusician]

I put his ballets on the wishlist. I have searched a few times over the year 2006-2007 for the full ballets in public domain on your site you only have the suite which is a selection of the peices from the full scores. I think it would be a good tool to see his full score to for example his Sleeping Beauty. I hope someone has this I love Tchaikovsky.

[Carolus]

It's a huge score (Sleeping Beauty). There are only two full scores that were ever produced. The first was a lithographed score reproduced from a copyist's manuscript and issued by D. Rahter (the German agent of Tchaikovsky's publisher Jurgenson) in about 1890. This is extraordinarily rare as only about 50 copies were printed, There are maybe 4 or 5 existing in the world today. It is 2 volumes, with 705 pages total.

A full score was also issued as part of the complete works issued by the Soviet State Publisher ''Muzika'' in the 1950s. It was recently available in reprint from Kalmus for about $450.00 (3 vols. 800+ pages). Kalmus is in the process of producing completely new editions for both Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, so it might not be available any longer.

[goldberg988]

I think the original Muszyka editions should be readily available, from institutional libraries. I know the library at my university has a number of volumes from that edition (except I think it was published quite a bit earlier in the 20th century... I'm not quite sure exactly when, though). I'll see if they have those any ballets, and maybe I can scan them.

[imslp]

An anonymous donator whom I correspond with has showed interest in scanning the Sleeping Beauty (he has a Eulenburg reprint of Muzika), but his score (and I assume all of the reprints are the same) is 1082 pages long.

And so he would like it if the scanning can be split between him and other people... and so, goldberg, if you manage to get a hold of the score (and have enough time to scan some part of it), please reply

[Carolus]

I happen to own the Kalmus reprint. The total number of music pages (all 3 volumes) is 1110. Kalmus did not reprint the preface, the libretto, etc. that appear either before or after the score itself. They kept the Muzika page numbering, table of contents and instrumentation pages though. In light of the differing page counts reported (1084 vs. 1110), I am wondering if the Eulenburg is actually a reprint of Muzika or not. The Kalmus volumes measure 10 x 13 inches, BTW, which is too large for most flatbed scanners.

Apart from the Rahter lithograpghed score I mentioned above, the only full scores I am aware of are the Valse (No. 6) and Polonaise (No. 22), issued in 1891 by Jurgenson and the Suite, Op. 66a which was compiled by Alexander Ziloti and published in 1899 by Jurgenson. The Muzika full score of the complete "Sleeping Beauty" was issued in 1952 as Volume 12 in 4 books (designated a, b, v, g - cyrillic alphabetical order) of the "Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii."

Based on the page numbering and the reprinted Muzika table of contents in the Kalmus volumes, my guess at the page counts of the Muzika volumes is thus:

12a. Introdoction - No. 4: 244 pages
12b. No. 5 - No. 9: 272 pages
12v. No. 10 - No. 20: 253 pages (p. 254 blank)
12g. No. 21 - No. 30 (Finale), examples, libretto, programme: 372 pages

Grand total: 1142 pages.

[SelfTaughtMusician]

Sweet... This is very good news

[Vivaldi]

To Carolus,
Hi, I am confident that the current Kalmus and Eulenburg editions of the Sleeping Beauty are reprints of the Muzyka edition issued about 50 years ago.

[Lyle Neff]

Are the Kalmus editions mentioned above supposed to be the large-size full scores that they sell in their orchestral catalog? I own a few of those, such as the full scores of Rimsky's "Snowmaiden" and some Russian orchestral works based on non-Soviet editions.

Back in the 1970s-early 80s I purchased several volumes of Kalmus' no-frills reprint edition of the Soviet Polnoe sobranie of Tchaikovsky's works in octavo size, including the full score of "Nutcracker," for very reasonable prices (under $25 for that score, I think). This reprint set included old editions of the religious works, which were omitted from the Soviet edition. There are music libraries that acquired this set or volumes thereof.

By the way, Dover has just recently reprinted a full score of "Nutcracker."

[Carolus]

There are actually two sets of reprints of the Muzyka Polnoe Sobrannie Sochinenni Tchaikovsky volumes issued under the imprint "Kalmus" : 1.) The octavo-sized scores, which were issued by Belwin-Mills (later Columbia, then Warner, now Alfred) under the "Kalmus Classic Series" and 2.) the "real" Kalmus orchestral scores, which are a rather hefty 10 x 13 inches in size.

For the "Nutcracker", the "real" Kalmus has reprinted the 1892 Jurgenson full score (same as Dover), instead of the 1950s Muzyka score. They are just about to issue a newly-engraved score of "Swan Lake", along with newly engraved parts for it. Jurgenson apparently never engraved parts for either "Swan Lake" or "Sleeping Beauty" - only for the orchestral suites (which were put together several years after Tchaikovsky's death by Siloti (Sleeping Beauty) and possibly Riccardo Drigo (Swan Lake). The editors of the Muzyka volumes claim that Jurgenson printed parts for the complete "Nutcracker" in June 1892 to coincide with the publication of the full score in September of that year. No set of engraved parts for the complete ballet has ever surfaced in the west, however. (Kalmus reprints a manuscript set of "Nutcracker" parts prepared in the 1970s or 1980s for Covent Garden).

[Vivaldi]

Carolus is correct. I happen to know this information as well from the Kalmus editor who is supervising the edition of the new engraved full score of Swan Lake. He also expressed his surprise that Kalmus chose to reprint the 1892 Jurgenson score of Nutcracker instead of the 1950s Muzyka score. The main gripe I have regarding the Jurgenson score of Nutcracker (and possibly the Dover reprint and the scans previously available in IMSLP) is the large amount of engraving errors.

[Bryan P. C. C.]

Hello everyone, (and sorry if my english is not so good)
I love the music of the Sleeping Beauty and I've asked in January to the Dover Publications to publish a full score of the complete ballet as they did for the Nutcracker. I don't know if they were interested in the idea and in case they were how long it would take to publish it... Does anyone actually possess the complete full score of the Sleeping Beauty ? I wish someone who had the score could put it on IMSLP, I love this music, I think it is magnificent ! I am a bit ashamed of asking such a thing because the score is apparently enormous, I understand if it is too much work.
Thank you anyway for reading this post.

[Carolus]

I actually own the score for the entire ballet - a Kalmus reprint (in 3 volumes) of the Muzgiz score issued as part of the Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii in the 1950s. I am in the process of scanning this score (it's more than 1000 pages) and will post here at IMSLP in a few weeks. It will probably be posted some time after I get back from a trip in late September.

[aldona]

This thread is an example of why we need a whole room somewhere full of people who do nothing but scan day and night...while those of us who have limited time and/or scanning expertise roam the libraries and the web, and throw them some scores from time to time.

Aldona

[Carolus]

Yes, I do wish I had a scanning robot or three - especially when dealing with a score like Sleeping Beauty.

[daphnis]

As do I, but regardless, the complete score to Swan Lake is coming in the near future. Carolus, if you ever get any of those robots, send one or two my way.