The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) By Estelle Bertrand It is impossible not to have already heard this very famous theme from the opera "The Nutcracker" (1892) by Tchaikovsky. The arrangement that we propose is in G major and in bipartite form. Overall, the difficulty is first rhythmic because the triplets at the beginning can be surprising, especially since the rhythm that follows, "dotted eighth note-double", can make things a little confusing. Remember to hold the bass notes between measures 5-8 and 13-16.