In the spring of 1875, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky accepted an offer from Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, director of the Moscow Imperial Theaters, to compose a ballet. Tchaikovsky requested that it would be based on “a fantastic plot set in medieval times.” Begichev himself completed the libretto, the composer approved it and agreed to write music for this plot.

In September 1875, Tchaikovsky wrote to the composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov:

It took Tchaikovsky one year, with several breaks, to compose the music, as he was simultaneously working on other compositions (including the Symphony No. 3). The instrumentation, judging by the date at the end of the autograph score, was completed on April 10, 1876 in Glebov, in the estate of Maria Shilovskaya.

The premiere of the ballet took place at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1877, in the staging by Karl Valts (Acts II and IV), Ivan Shangin (Act I), and Karl Gropius (Act III). The part of Odette (and probably Odile) was performed by the ballerina Polina Karpakova. Arnold Gillert appeared as Prince Siegfried. Julius Reisinger’s production was quite unpopular and unsuccessful. A critic of classical music, Herman Laroche wrote: “The ballet ‘Swan Lake’ is probably the most officious, boring and poor ballet that is staged in Russia”. Other critics made sarcastic remarks about Reisinger’s “incredible ability” to show “some gymnastic exercises instead of dancing” and borrow characteristic dances from other ballets.

The classical version of the ballet for subsequent productions was staged after the composer’s death by the ballet masters Marius Petipa (Acts I and III) and Lev Ivanov (Acts II and IV, the Venetian and Hungarian dances of Act III). The author of the revised libretto was Modest Tchaikovsky. The ballet was premiered in 1895 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater as a benefit performance of the popular Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, who brilliantly danced Odette/Odile. The St. Petersburg choreographers changed the original tragic ending to a happy one.