Carl Reinecke and the Nutcracker

This time, we're not doing a review. This is because I only became aware of this derivative work based on The Nutcracker very recently. Instead, consider this more of me pointing out a curiosity.

German composer, conductor and pianist Carl Reinecke was quite the influential artist of his time, his most famous work being the opera Undine. He also did the piano arrangement for the classic Christmas carol "Silent Night." Yet looking through his works turns up eight pieces for two to play on a piano together in a collection titled Nussknacker und Mausekönig. This does not appear to be one of his major works, and I can't tell if it was simply a number of pieces of music based on Hoffmann's story or if it was written as an actual opera. The pieces date as early as 1855, when some of the sheet music was published. This means that it predated Tchaikovsky's famous score for the ballet by a few decades and then some.

The eight pieces are:

• Overture
• Weihnachtsabend (Christmas Eve)
• Pate Drosselmeyer's Automaten (Godfather Drosselmeyer's Machine)
• Schlagt den Generalmarsch getreuer Vasalle Tambour (Beat the General March, Loyal vassal Tambour - The Battle scene, also known as Die Schlacht, the Battle)
• Pate Drosselmeyer's Uhrmacherliedchen (Godfather Drosselmeyer's Clock Song)
• Schäferballet im Puppenreich (The Shepherd Ballet in Doll Land)
• Barkarole (Baracolle, likely to correspond with the song sung by the little men who take Marie and Nutcracker in a boat)
• Hochzeitsmarsch  (Wedding March)

It seems the pieces are popular for recitals in Germany, and around the music a narrator would tell parts of a shortened version of the story. Even so, recordings of all eight pieces are rather rare, particularly with Tchaikovsky's ballet score eventually sending Reinecke's compositions into the realms of obscurity as far as international consciousness was concerned.

Thanks to the music being over 100 years old, the sheet music and English versions of suggested dialogue for reading with them are available online. Note that the sheet music is laid out for two players at one piano. Anyone attempting to create a MIDI would need to enter both pages of notes at the same time.

Here is what I have been able to turn up in trying to enjoy Reinecke's Nutcracker in a post-Tchaikovsky world:

• A YouTube playlist of a German children's performance
• Sheet music from IMSLP
• A book containing the story retold in rhyme as well as sheet music
• An edition of Hoffmann's story along with readings to go along with Reinecke's music.
• A video of a piano roll, created by Reinecke himself

 There is also a CD featuring the music available from Germany. Since writing the above sections of this entry, I have obtained a copy of this disc and am going to review it here.

This CD is, as far as I am aware, the only complete recording of Reinecke's Nutcracker score. However, it is designed for children, and also contains a retelling of the story, completely in German. Mostly, Reinecke's melodies are allowed to play without narration over them, but a few times they aren't, with "Drosselmeyer's Clock Song" especially having narration over it.

I don't know German, so I couldn't follow the story adaptation, but given that I heard the name "Pirlipat," I assume it faithfully follows Hoffmann's original story. Stephen Weiss tells the story in an appropriate tone, a little low and hushed as if he's telling a wondrous story to a group of enthralled children, which in fact he is!

As the sole complete recording of Reinecke's melodies, I recommend this to Nutcracker fans. If you're wanting to hear a more pure version of "Drosselmeyer's Clock Song," there is a version performed on strings on digital platforms, as well as a similar recording of "Christmas Eve." I would have preferred to have the narration tracks around the music tracks rather than it being mixed in, but I'll take this over nothing.