Based on Hoffmann's fairy story, The Nutcracker premiered in 1892 has become a perennial Christmas favourite.

Nutcracker together with the other two ballets can be interpreted as three dreams – one a nightmare, one a sensual experience, and one a happy dream. In all three, sitting alongside the traditional 'fairy tale element' is the human journey from pain and cruelty to joyful redemption.

With the trilogy complete, Tchaikovsky had taken ballet to a new peak.