Which composer wrote the ballet The Nutcracker, first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892?

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the ballet The Nutcracker, first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892.

The Imperial Ballet premiered The Nutcracker on 18 December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre. The ballet was based largely on Alexandre Dumas’s adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov created the choreography for the original production.

The story follows Clara, or Marie in some versions, through a Christmas Eve dream involving a nutcracker, a battle with the Mouse King and a journey to a fantastical realm. Tchaikovsky’s score includes the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” written with the newly distinctive celesta.

The ballet did not immediately become the worldwide holiday staple it is today. Its popularity grew through later productions, especially in the twentieth century. The score is sometimes mistaken for a suite alone, but The Nutcracker is a complete two-act ballet.