Swan Lake | Origins of a Fairytale
At the Swan Lake by Hans Zatka
In the world of classical ballet, the story of Swan Lake holds a special place in the hearts of childhood ballerinas, professional dancers, and life-long balletomanes. It is a beautiful story that is made even more beautiful on stage when set against Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score, and yet, few of us know where it came from, or for that matter, who wrote it.
The Source of ‘Swan Lake’:
The truth is, little is known about the true origin of this story, particularly in regards to the inspirations behind it. Due to its similarities to many swan-related fairytales, it is likely that the libretto itself was not completely original, but heavily influenced by certain stories from the past.
Most of the time ballet librettos are:
theatrical re-telling’s of well-known fairytales
traditional folktales that have been heavily altered, transformed or combined to suit the ballet medium, or
new stories in which the libretto has been written by one of the central figures of the ballet company.
It seems that the story of Swan Lake would fit into the second category, since generally, it is believed that the story was fashioned out of one or more existing fairytales that acted as the basis of its inspiration, with the German folktale, ‘The Stolen Veil’ by Johann Karl August Musäus and ‘the Swedish folktale, ‘The Swan-Maiden’ being the two primary suspects.
To understand the similarities (and differences), between the two stories, it is important to note that there are two different versions of the Swan Lake story- one from the 1877 premiere of the ballet, and one from the later re-worked 1895 version of the ballet. So I will first share the the synopsis for each version, courtesy of the Marius Petipa Society, and then share the plot for The Stolen Veil, courtesy of Snow White Writes, and the plot for 'The Swan-Maiden’.
Swan Lake 1895:
“Based on a German legend, the beautiful Princess Odette has been enchanted by an evil genie in a spell that leaves her a woman by night and a swan by day. When Prince Siegfried discovers the lake [while on a hunt], he falls in love with Odette and there is at last hope that the spell will be broken. But all hope vanishes when Siegfried is tricked into pledging his love to the Evil Genie’s daughter, Odile, disguised by magic as Odette. With no other option, Siegfried and Odette throw themselves into the lake and are united for eternity in the afterlife. [This subsequently breaking Von Rothbart’s spell, leading to his death, whilst simultaneously setting all the other swan maidens free].”
Swan Lake 1877:
“… Odette and her friends are swan maidens who transform themselves into swans during the day and take up their human forms at night. Odette’s evil stepmother is trying to kill her, but she is protected by a magical crown that was given to her by her grandfather. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette and swears to marry her, but is tricked into infidelity by the demon Von Rothbart, who is working with the evil stepmother, and his daughter Odile. Odette is powerless to forgive Siegfried for his betrayal, but Siegfried, determined for them never to be parted, rips the crown from Odette’s head and throws it into the stormy lake. Odette dies in Siegfried’s arms and the waters of the lake engulf them. As the sun rises, the swans appear on the lake.”
The Stolen Veil (German c.1784)
“This story is about a young soldier named Friedbert who discovers a flock of enchanted swans. Every night the swans become maidens when they remove their crowns and veils to bathe in the lake. Friedbert steals one of the veils to prevent the youngest maiden from returning to her swan form and turns her into his bride.”
The Swan- Maiden (Swedish)
While out hunting, a young man catches sight of three swans overhead. Having never seen such magnificent swans before, he decided to follow them. To his astonishment, when they landed by the lake, they removed their beautiful white feathery skins, revealing three beautiful maidens underneath. The young man falls desperately in love with the youngest swan. One night, he goes back to the lake and hides in the undergrowth. When the swans reappear, he takes note of where the youngest one has left her clothes, pinching them when she isn’t looking. As the sun rises, the other two swans take off, leaving the youngest crying over her lost clothes. Once they were gone, the hunter steps forward with her clothes, though despite her pleas, he refuses to give them back to her, taking her home instead. For many years, they live happily as man and wife. However one-day, the swan-maiden asks to see her clothes just one more time. The hunter agrees, but no sooner has he given them to her, has she transformed back into a swan and flown away, leading the hunter to fall back into depression and later die.
I hope you can see that the 1877 version of the Swan Lake story is a little closer to that of The Swan Maiden and The Stolen Veil, than the 1895 version. Primarily this is because the depiction of the swan-maidens is based far more closely to the traditional idea of what a swan maiden is, that being, a mythical creature that can transform between swan-form and human-form at will, rather than it being a curse.
Here, it is important to note that the Swan Lake story does contain many indications that it was inspired by a German story, despite being a Russian ballet, most notably in regard to the names of the characters. Prince Siegfried, Wolfgang, and Von Rothbart are all German names. Odile is a French variant of and old-German name, ‘Odila’, and Odette has both French and old-German origins as well.
Now, The Swan Maiden and The Stolen Veil are clearly based on the same swan-inspired legends and folklore, with the portrayal of a young man stealing the swan maiden’s clothes in order to ‘capture’ her for his own. However, both stories have a slightly different outcome. The Stolen Veil ends with the swan maiden becoming the young man’s bride and supposedly living happily-ever-after, whereas The Swan Maiden illustrates a far more lengthy tale, in which the swan maiden manages to regain her freedom, long after she has married the hunter, leaving him to die of grief and depression. However, neither of these storylines relate all that well to the Swan Lake story.
Still, there is another story that supposedly inspired Swan Lake, and that is the Russian fairytale, titled The White Duck…
The White Duck (Russian)
A King had to leave his newly-wed wife for a journey. He sternly warned her against leaving the women's quarters and listening to bad advice. But an envious wicked witch lured her into the garden and into a pool, and turned her into a white duck, herself taking the queen's own form and place. Meanwhile, the white duck built a nest, laid three eggs, and hatched two fluffy ducklings and one little drake. After flying too close to the castle, the ducklings were killed by the witch. The white duck went searching for them and captured the King’s attention. He went outside and she flew into his arms, instantly turning back into his beautiful Queen. Using magic water hidden in a magpie’s nest, they revive the dead ducklings and find that they turn into three beautiful children. The witch was then put to death through dismemberment and nothing remained of her.
It is assumed that the role of the witch in The White Duck is what inspired the inclusion of an evil stepmother and the demon Von Rothbart within the 1877 Swan Lake story. There is also the potential that it was this story that may have caused the change from the swan-maidens being unique mythical beings, to young women who have been cursed “by an evil genie in a spell that leaves her a woman by night and a swan by day”, within the 1895 Swan Lake story. Also, the notion of having the witch replace the Queen in The White Duck, perfectly mirrors the way in which Odile replaces Odette as the woman to which Prince Siegfried pledges his love to.
Of course, there are other aspects of both Swan Lake stories that are not quite explained based on the themes drawn from The Stolen Veil, The Swan Maiden, and The White Duck, most notably, the tragic death and suicide of Odette and Prince Siegfried. There could, of course, be other fairytales that contributed to its creation, that currently have not been discovered. Or, the areas that remain unexplained could have been filled in by the librettist, who, through drawing influence from these sources, continued to enhance the storyline to suit the ballet medium.
The Secret Librettist:
So, now let’s discuss who wrote the Swan Lake story. Many sources that I have come across during my research are undecided as to who wrote the libretto for the ballet, with some suggesting Julius Reisinger, the then ballet master of the Bolshoi and the original choreographer for Swan Lake, Konstantin Shilovsky, a Russian librettist and host to Tchaikovsky during the time he was completing the Swan Lake score, and lastly, Tchaikovsky himself.
However, then I came across an article written by the Marius Petipa Society that stated that “according to Modeste Tchaikovsky [Tchaikovsky’s younger brother], it was written by [Vladamir] Begichev [a Russian dramatist] and the Bolshoi dancer Vasily Geltser.” Apparently, it was these two individual’s who were credited with libretto on the programme for the premiere of the ballet in 1877. Similarly, within a small book titled, ‘Swan Lake’ by Marion Robertson (from 1947), it is Begichev and Geltser who are stated to be the originators of the story. In addition, Nikolay Kashkin, a friend of Tchaikovsky’s, postulated that"…it was Begichev himself who wrote the scenario for the ballet Swan Lake; the composer [Tchaikovsky] approved this subject and agreed to write the music for 800 rubles", thus strengthening the case for Begichev even more so.
I think it might be safe to assume that it was Begichev and Geltser who created the libretto from Swan Lake in 1877. However, the next question is : who re-worked the story to create the 1895 version of Swan Lake?
Well, it turns out that Modeste (Tchaikovsky’s brother) was the individual who was called upon to adjust the libretto for the new production. In truth, in 1895 the Swan Lake ballet had a complete facelift compared to the original 1877 version. Aside from the changes to the libretto, the original choreography was ditched, and new choreography was provided by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Also, since Tchaikovsky had passed away in 1893, his score was reworked and amended by Ricardo Drigo. As the 1877 version of the ballet had been presented so poorly that it had received disappointing reviews, it can be assumed that these changes were necessary and a huge part of the reason that the Swan Lake ballet has been able to live on into the modern age.
In fact, nowadays, most, if not all, productions of Swan Lake are based on the 1895 version, and therefore it has come to be the one that we all know and love. So, I suppose we can only be grateful to the many creative minds that came together to produce such a refined and timeless work of art for us to enjoy!
Sources:
The Marius Petipa Society: https://petipasociety.com/swan-lake/
‘Swan Lake’ by Marion Robertson (1947)
Tchaikovsky Research: http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Vladimir_Begichev
Ballet Alert Post: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/45977-the-stolen-veil/
Snow White Writes: https://snowwhitewrites.com/swan-lake-fairy-tale-origins/
Folk Realm’s Studies: https://folkrealmstudies.weebly.com/the-swan-maidens-challenge.html
