Trepak (The Nutcracker) Explained

Trepak (Russian: Трепак; Ukrainian: Трoпак or Ukrainian: Трiпак),^[1] also referred to as the Russian dance, is one of the character dances from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famous 1892 ballet The Nutcracker. It is based on the traditional Russian^[2] and Ukrainian folk dance also called the trepak.

The piece is part of the Divertissement in Act II, Tableau III. The other character dances in this divertissement are: Chocolate (Spanish dance), Coffee (Arabian dance) and Tea (Chinese dance).

Tchaikovsky's Trepak is written in AABA form. Its tempo is molto vivace – prestissimo, the time signature is, and the key is G major.

In popular culture

• The Trepak is used in the Disney film Fantasia. In the sequence, flowers take the place of the Cossack dancers, with thistles resembling men in fur hats and orchids as women with bonnets.
• Different short arrangements of the first notes are used as the victory fanfare for the Game Boy version of the Tetris video game.
• The Trepak is used in The Comeback as Valerie Cherish's ringtone.
• The Trepak also remixed during the third stage of Parodius Da!, alongside Trepak is followed by "William Tell Overture".
• The first beat of Trepak is remixed as a part of Tire & Ice theme from Crash Tag Team Racing beside Russian folk song "Kalinka" and "Hungarian Dance No. 5" by Johannes Brahms.
• In Season 1, Episode 11 of How I Met Your Mother, the Trepak can be heard as a background music

Notes and References

1. Humeniuk, Andriy (1962): Ukrainian Folk Dances (Українські Hароднi Танцi). Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
2. Фраёнова Е. М. Трепак // Музыкальная энциклопедия / под ред. Ю. В. Келдыша. — М.: Советская энциклопедия, Советский композитор, 1981. — Т. 5.