Who composed the 1869 ballet Don Quixote?

The 1869 ballet Don Quixote was composed by Ludwig Minkus.

Minkus wrote the music for the ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa, which premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre on 26 December 1869. The work draws mainly on episodes from the second part of Cervantes’s novel, especially the romance of Kitri and Basilio and the festivities surrounding their marriage, rather than presenting a complete narrative of Don Quixote’s adventures.

Petipa and Minkus later expanded the ballet for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. That 1871 revival grew to five acts and eleven scenes, and many later productions descend from Alexander Gorsky’s revisions for Moscow in 1900 and St. Petersburg in 1902.

Minkus’s score is famous for its vivid Spanish-style rhythms and its demanding dances, including the celebrated Grand Pas de Deux. A common mistake is to credit Petipa alone: he created the choreography and scenario, while Minkus composed the music. Another source of confusion is that later choreographers have created unrelated Don Quixote ballets with different scores.