The most beautiful music from the world's greatest ballets (Swan Lake, Spartacus, Copp�lia, Masquerade, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Giselle). The word 'ballet' is French; it was adopted by the English sometime in the seventeenth century. It was during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the genre really started to develop into the art form that we recognize on the stage today. A fusion of dance, music, drama, sets and lighting, ballet is one of the ultimate arts. Following are the stories of some of the world's greatest ballets, so the listener may enjoy more fully the collection presented here.