The Nutcracker

The story of The Nutcracker was written by E. T. A. Hoffmann of Königsberg, Prussia. It was set to music by the composer Tchaikovsky and has become the most popular ballet performed around Christmas time. It is appealing to children and adults alike and has been a standard yearly feature of theaters in many cities.

The story of "The Nutcracker and the Mouseking" has been published in many book versions including cute charming children's versions.

Tchaikovsky composed the ballet in 1892, but he was unsatisfied with it and considered it to be one of his less successful pieces. Audiences disagreed, however, and both the ballet and the suite of pieces from it Tchaikovsky made for concert performance (the Nutcracker Suite) have become among the most popular classical compositions of all time.