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| Pyotr IIyich Tchaikovsky |
Title : 1812 Overture (Festival Overture in E Flat major, Op. 49)
Composer : Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Composed in 1880
First premiered in Moscow on 20 August 1882
The Year 1812, festival overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture, is an overture written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate Russia's defense of its motherland against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée in 1812. It has also become a common accompaniment to fireworks displays, including those in the United States during Fourth of July celebrations.
The overture debuted in Moscow on 20 August 1882, conducted by Ippolit Al'tani under a tent near the then unfinished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which also memorialised the 1812 defense of Russia. The overture was conducted by Tchaikovsky himself at the 1891 at the dedication of Carnegie Hall. The overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes, and brass fanfare finale.
History
French Invasion of Russia
On 7 September 1812, at Borodino, 120 km (75 mi) west of Moscow, Napoleon's forces met those of General Mikhail Kutuzov in a concerted stand made by Russia against the seemingly invincible French Army. The Battle of Borodino saw casualties estimated as high as 100,000 and resulted in a French tactical victory. It was, however, ultimately a pyrrhic victory for the French invasion.
With resources depleted and supply lines overextended, Napoleon's weakened forces moved into Moscow, which they occupied with little resistance. Expecting capitulation from the displaced Tsar Alexander I, the French instead found themselves in a barren and desolate city, parts of which the retreating Russian Army had burned to the ground.
Deprived of winter stores, Napoleon had to retreat. Beginning on October 19 and lasting well into December, the French Army faced several overwhelming obstacles on its long retreat: famine, typhus, frigid temperatures, harassing cossacks and Russian forces barring the way out of the country. Abandoned by Napoleon in November, the Grande Armée was reduced to one-tenth of its original size by the time it reached Poland and relative safety.
Anachronism of Nationalist Motifs
Although La Marseillaise was chosen as the French national anthem in 1795, it was banned by Napoleon in 1805 and would not have been played during the Russian campaign. It was reinstated as the French Anthem in 1879—the year before the commission of the overture—which can explain its use by Tchaikovsky in the overture.
Although God Save the Tsar! was the Russian national anthem in Tchaikovsky's time, it had not been written in 1812. There was no official Russian anthem until 1815, from which time until 1833 the anthem was Molitva russkikh, Prayer of the Russians, sung to the tune of God Save the King.
Commission of the Overture[edit]
In 1880, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, was nearing completion in Moscow; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II would be at hand in 1881; and the 1882 Moscow Arts and Industry Exhibition was in the planning stage. Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein suggested that he write a grand commemorative piece for use in related festivities. Tchaikovsky began work on the project on October 12, 1880, finishing it six weeks later.
Organisers planned to have the overture performed in the square before the cathedral, with a brass band to reinforce the orchestra, the bells of the cathedral, and all the others in downtown Moscow playing "zvons" (pealing bells) on cue—and cannons, fired from an electric switch panel to achieve the precision the musical score required. However, this performance did not take place, possibly partly due to the over-ambitious plan. Regardless, the assassination of Alexander II that March deflated much of the impetus for the project. In 1882, during the Arts and Industry Exhibition, the Overture was performed in a tent next to the unfinished cathedral.The cathedral was completed on May 26, 1883.
Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky complained to his patron Nadezhda von Meck that he was "...not a conductor of festival pieces," and that the Overture would be "...very loud and noisy, but [without] artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love," adding himself to the legion of artists who have castigated their own work. It is this work that would make the Tchaikovsky estate exceptionally wealthy, as it is one of the most performed and recorded works from his catalog.
After the Russian Revolution the Tsar's anthem melody was replaced until 1990 with the chorus "Glory, Glory to you, holy Rus'!", Славься, славься, святая Русь! from the finale of Mikhail Glinka's opéra A Life for the Tsar.
Music
Instrumental
- a piccolo
- 2 flutes
- 2 oboes,
- a English horn
- 2 clarinets in B flat
- 2 bassoons
- 4 horns in F
- 2 cornets in B flat
- 2 trumpets in E flat
- 3 trombones (2 tenor, 1 bass)
- a tuba
- timpani
- an orchestral bass drum
- a snare drum
- cymbals
- a tambourine
- a triangle
- a carillon
- a cannon
- I & II violins
- violas
- violoncellos
- double basses
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| Cannon used in 1812 Overture |
Structure
Beginning with the plaintive Slavic Orthodox Troparion of the Holy Cross played by four cellos and two violas, the piece moves through a mixture of pastoral and martial themes portraying the increasing distress of the Russian people at the hands of the invading French. This passage includes a Russian folk dance, At the Gate, at my Gate (U Vorot, Vorot"). At the turning point of the invasion—the Battle of Borodino—the score calls for five Russian cannon shots confronting a boastfully repetitive fragment of La Marseillaise. A descending string passage represents the subsequent retreat of the French forces, followed by victory bells and a triumphant repetition of God Preserve Thy People as Moscow burns to deny winter quarters to the French. A musical chase scene appears, out of which emerges the anthem God Save the Tsar! thundering with eleven more precisely scored shots. The overture utilises counterpoint to reinforce the appearance of the leitmotif that represents the Russian forces throughout the piece. A total of sixteen cannon shots are written into the score of the Overture.
1812 Overture video :
1812 Overture (Full Score) pdf file :
http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/a/ae/IMSLP23744-PMLP03587-Tchaikovsky_-_1812_Overture__orch._score_.pdf
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