Films that feature the great composer’s music (Tchaikovsky’s Wife)

You’d naturally expect the music of famed Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky to feature heavily in a film about the man’s life – award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov’s Tchaikovsky’s Wife, released in UK cinemas on 29th December, details Tchaikovsky’s tumultuous marriage, and includes a wealth of his wondrous works on the soundtrack. It might come as a surprise, though, to non-classical musical fans, that they will have heard his music in the latest instalment of a billion-dollar action franchise, or in a Disney movie, or a horror film. That’s because Tchaikovsky’s work has featured in a staggering 1400 films and TV shows and counting. Here’s a look at some memorable moments.

Black Swan (2010)

What could be more appropriate for a film about ballet – than Tchaikovsky’s arguably most famous piece of music? In Darren Aronofsky’s dark drama, Natalie Portman finds herself up against a potentially dangerous rival (Mila Kunis) in a bid to become a ballet academy star. Things come to head during a performance of Swan Lake.

Fast X (2023)

Composer Brian Tyler used Swan Lake in the most recent film in the action franchise – adjusting it slightly and using it as the signature theme for the film’s villain Dante, played by Jason Momoa. It shows that Tchaikovsky’s music is not only timeless but extraordinarily versatile.

John Wick 3 (2019)

The Keanu Reeves hitman saga makes use of music from The Nutcracker in John Wick 3: Parabellum (2019), and Swan Lake in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). Meanwhile the Symphony of Violence Supercut, a montage of the many, many John Wick’s kills from the first film, is scored with the magnificent and rousing 1812 Overture – and it fits beautifully.

Dracula (1931)

The start of Universal’s horror classic, starring Bela Lugosi, uses the theme from Swan Lake to set the tone – the music sounds eerie and ominous in this context. It was obviously effective – they went on to use it for subsequent fright films The Mummy, with Boris Karloff, and Murders in the Rue Morgue, starring Lugosi again.

Misery (1990)

In Rob Reiner’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the Stephen King book, James Caan plays a famous author rescued, then held prisoner, by his number one fan (Kathy Bates), an overbearing former nurse who refuses to let him go until he writes his next book to her specifications. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto Number One plays out over a scene of Caan reluctantly attempting to write under duress.

Fantasia (1940)

Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, from The Nutcracker, is used to marvellous effect in Disney’s incredible and groundbreaking film – the haunting, dreamlike and delicate melody, accompanied by the swirling, magical animation, makes for a pairing like no other.