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    Opera and Ballet Stories in Music    

Lesson 26: Swan Lake - Act 3

by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Performer: European Archive


DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

THE REIGNING PRINCESS.

PRINCE SIEGFRIED, her son.

BENNO, friend of SIEGFRIED.

WOLFGANG, tutor of the prince.

ODETTE.

VON ROTHBART.

ODILE.

MASTER OF CEREMONIES.

HERALD.

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, guests, peasants, servants, swans, owls, etc. etc.



SWAN LAKE - A BALLET IN 4 ACTS.

ACT III.

A room richly decorated for a party.



SCENE I.

Wolfgang gives the final orders to the servants in preparation for the party. The master of ceremonies receives and escorts the guests who arrive into the room. The princess mother and Siegfried enter, followed by an entourage of the potential fiancées and their parents. After some dancing, the candidate fiancées begin to waltz.



SCENE II.

The princess mother asks her son which girl he likes best. Siegfried replies that he finds them all charming, but that among them he sees none with which he could swear an eternal love.



SCENE III.

Trumpets announce the arrival of new guests. The evil genie, disguised as Von Rothbart, enters with his daughter Odile. Siegfried is struck by the resemblance of Odile with Odette. Siegfried compliments Odile enthusiastically. Odette, in the form of a swan, appears at the window and tries to warn Siegfried against the enchantments of the genie. Unfortunately, Siegfried is so amazed by Odile's beauty, he doesn't see or hear Odette. A new dance begins.



SCENE IV.

Persuaded that Odile and Odette are one and the same person, Siegfried chooses Odile as fiancée. Von Rothbart triumphantly takes the hand of his daughter and gives it to the young prince. Before the whole assembly, Siegfried gives Von Rothbart an oath of eternal love. At this moment, everything plunges into darkness. A wild burst of laughter resonates. Odile turns into an owl that shrieks out through the window into the night. Odette appears at the window, wringing her hands with despair. Everyone is terrified. The frightened prince, seeing Odette, understands that the evil genie has tricked him. Feeling utter despair at his mistake, Siegfried flees, leaving everyone filled with consternation.

    Opera and Ballet Stories in Music    

Lesson 26: Swan Lake - Act 3

by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Performer: European Archive

Directions

Read the lesson text and listen to the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the synopsis.
  • Review any vocabulary terms.
  • Read about the composer.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.

Synopsis

In Act 3 of Swan Lake, in order to prevent the betrothal of Odetta, the demon appears at the feast accompanied by his daughter Odelia, to whom he has given the form of Odetta. Not realizing Odelia and Odetta are not the same person, Siegfried choses Odelia for his bride, and is therefore unfaithful to Odetta, who must now be sacrificed to the demon [1].

Composer

  1. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia. Examine his picture.
  2. Zoom in and find Tchaikovsky's country of birth on the map of Europe below.
  3. Tchaikovsky took piano lessons starting at age five and wrote his first composition, a waltz in honor of his deceased mother, at the age of fourteen.
  4. Although as an adult Tchaikovsky first worked as a civil servant, he found his way back to music, enrolling in the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
  5. Tchaikovsky worked as a music professor and a composer and was eventually voted into the French Académie des Beaux-Arts.
  6. Tchaikovsky died in 1893 at the age of 53, possibly from cholera due to drinking bad water.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Ballet Information

  • Recite the name of the composer, the name of the ballet, and the act and scenes of the ballet.

Activity 2: Recite the Dramatis Personae

Read aloud the Dramatis Personae.

  • THE REIGNING PRINCESS.
  • PRINCE SIEGFRIED, her son.
  • BENNO, friend of SIEGFRIED.
  • WOLFGANG, tutor of the prince.
  • ODETTE.
  • VON ROTHBART.
  • ODILE.
  • MASTER OF CEREMONIES.
  • HERALD.
  • Ladies and gentlemen of the court, guests, peasants, servants, swans, owls, etc. etc.

Activity 3: Listen to the Ballet While Reading the Text

  • Play the ballet music softly in the background.
  • Take turns reading aloud the scenes.

Activity 4: Narrate the Lesson

  • Narrate the lesson events aloud in your own words.

Activity 5: Examine the Musical Score

A musical score is the written form of a musical composition showing all instrumental and/or vocal parts.

Examine the page from the musical score of 'Swan Lake.'

  • Which instruments do not play any notes on this page?
  • Which instruments do play notes on this page?

References

  1. Evans, Edwin. Tchaikovsky. New York, New York. E.P. Dutton and Co. 1906.

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