I have become fascinated with cats in music since I wrote the previous post on “The Cat’s Meow.” Let me introduce you to a divertissement from The Sleeping Beauty (1890), the second of Tchaikovsky’s three great fairy-tale ballets -- the other two being Swan Lake (1877) and his final masterpiece, The Nutcracker.(1891-1892).
In a July 1889 letter to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck, he wrote: “I think, dear friend, it is one of my best works. The subject is so poetical, so grateful for musical setting, that I have worked at it with all that enthusiasm and goodwill upon which the value of a composition so depends.”
Tchaikovsky’s words “musical setting” contain multitudes: the demands made on him to create these major ballet scores were exacting, to say the least, so virtually every step of the way was carefully blocked out. The choreographer Marius Petipa exerted tight control over the process, as is clear from his notes on Princess Aurora’s entrance in Act I.
The occasion is her sixteenth birthday. When she pricks her finger on a spindle and draws blood, the playbook specifies: “For Aurora’s entrance—abruptly coquettish, ¾, 32 bars; finish 16 bars; 6/8 forte suddenly Aurora notices the old woman, who beats on her knitting needles in 2/4. Gradually she changes to a very melodious waltz, but then suddenly, a rest. Aurora pricks her finger. Screams pain. Blood streams. Give eight measures in 4/4, wide.”
A comparable focus on detail applies to the divertissement from the final (fourth) act, which features the White Cat and Puss in Boots. A three-note meowing oboe motif is skillfully manipulated in the course of a 44-measure mini-drama of sexual foreplay. The oboe and woodwinds present all the melodic and motivic material -- some of it sounding downright atonal -- while the snapping strings and irregular rhythm keep you constantly off-balance as they suggest the meowing, clawing, and pawing you see in the dance.
To quote the great 20th-century choreographer George Balanchine: “Puss in Boots tries to ensnare the winsome cat in a love trap. The White Cat pretends to resist Puss’s caresses; but actually she is delighted. Finally Puss can contain himself no longer and puts an end to the flirtation by carrying his ladylove offstage.”
Meow indeed!
Enjoy this link to a performance by the Royal Ballet:
Please consider supporting our mission, as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, to make science-based innovative activities that promote healthful aging available to as many people as possible through our online programs.
To learn more about AMP visit: https://agelessmindproject.org