The Don Quixote Ballet is one of the most popular and enduring ballet pieces of all time. The music for the ballet was composed by Ludwig Minkus and first performed in Moscow in 1869.
Minkus was a prolific composer, and his work spanned many different genres including operas, symphonies, chamber music, and ballets. He was born in Vienna to a Jewish family in 1826, and he first studied music at the Vienna Conservatory where he studied piano, violin and composition.
He moved to Paris in 1852, where he worked as a freelance composer. It was here that he wrote his first ballet score for La Source (1860).
In 1867 he moved to Russia where he wrote several ballets for the Bolshoi Theatre, including Don Quixote (1869). This ballet became very popular with audiences and is still performed today.
The music for Don Quixote is highly melodic and has been described as “sunny” by some critics. It features melodies that are both Spanish-sounding as well as Russian-sounding, reflecting Minkus’s ability to blend different musical styles together. The score also includes many solos featuring different instruments such as flutes, oboes and clarinets.
Minkus composed several other ballets for the Bolshoi Theatre including La Bayadere (1877) which was later choreographed by Marius Petipa; this ballet is now considered one of the greatest works of classical ballet ever created.
Minkus died in Vienna in 1917 at the age of 91 after a long career that included writing over 70 ballets. His work has been influential on generations of composers who have followed him, including Sergei Prokofiev who wrote music for Romeo and Juliet (1935) based on Minkus’s style of composition.
In conclusion, it can be said that Ludwig Minkus composed the music for Don Quixote Ballet which premiered in Moscow in 1869 and still remains one of the most popular ballets today due to its enchanting melodies and captivating rhythms created by Minkus’s skillful blending of Spanish-Russian musical styles.