The Four Temperaments

A 1946 ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Paul Hindemith’s score, structured around the temperaments melancholic, sanguinic, phlegmatic, and choleric.

Paul Hindemith: A German composer whose music combined contrapuntal craft with modernist approaches to harmony and form. He composed the score that gives the ballet its musical structure.
Theme and variations: A musical form in which a theme is followed by altered versions that preserve recognizable elements. Hindemith’s score supplies a theme and variations for the ballet’s sections.
Ballet Society: A New York organization founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine to present new ballet works. It commissioned and presented the ballet’s 1946 premiere.
Tanaquil Le Clercq: An American ballerina who danced with New York City Ballet and became one of Balanchine’s leading interpreters. She was among the original cast members at the ballet’s premiere.
George Balanchine: A Georgian-born choreographer who helped establish neoclassical ballet in the United States. He created the ballet’s choreography and its four-part design.
Melancholic: One of the four classical temperaments, traditionally associated with introspection and sadness. The first section gives this temperament a distinct choreographic character.
Lincoln Kirstein: An American writer and arts patron who co-founded the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet. His Ballet Society provided the institutional setting for the premiere.
Maria Tallchief: An American ballerina who became a leading star of New York City Ballet. Her performance history connects the ballet with the company’s early repertory.
Neoclassical ballet: A ballet style emphasizing classical technique, musical structure, and streamlined movement rather than elaborate narrative. The work is a defining example of Balanchine’s neoclassical approach.
Sanguinic: One of the four classical temperaments, traditionally associated with sociability and buoyant emotion. The ballet assigns it a separate movement and ensemble texture.

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