Romeo and Juliet

• Composed October - November 1869; revised July - September 1870 and again in August 1880.
• Scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais (1870 and 1880 versions only), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, harp and strings.
• First performed in Moscow, 4/16 March 1870, conducted by Nikolay Rubinstein (1869 version); St. Petersburg, 5/17 February 1872, conducted by Eduard Nápravník (1870 version); Tiflis [Tblissi], 19 April/1 May 1886, conducted by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1880 version).
• Dedicated to Mily Balakirev.
• In 1881 Tchaikovsky sketched a duet for an opera based on Shakespeare's play, which used themes from the overture-fantasia.