The 1812 - Music

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: The 1812

Bond - Born

The 1812 Overture Op. 49 French Ouverture Solennelle L'Année 1812 Russian Торжественная Увертюра 1812-Ого Года Toržestvennaja Uvertjura Tysjača Vosem'sot Dvennadstovo Goda Festival Overture The Year 1812 Is A Classical Overture Written By Russian Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky In 1880. The Piece Was Written To Commemorate Russia's Defense Of Moscow Against Napoleon's Advancing Grande Armée At The Battle Of Borodino In 1812. The Overture Debuted In The Cathedral Of Christ The Saviour In Moscow On August 20 1882 In The Gregorian Or NS Calendar The Date In The Julian Or OS Calendar Was 8 August . The Overture Is Best Known For Its Climactic Volley Of Cannon Fire And Ringing Chimes. Sixteen Cannon Shots Are Written Into The Score Of The Overture. Beginning With The Plaintive Russian Orthodox Troparion Of The Holy Cross "God Preserve Thy People" Played By Eight Cellos And Four Violas The Piece Moves Through A Mixture Of Pastoral And Militant 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." 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 Utilizes Counterpoint To Reinforce The Appearance Of The Leitmotif That Represents The Russian Forces Throughout The Song. Although God Save The Tsar! Was The Russian National Anthem In Tchaikovsky's Time It Was Not The Anthem 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. In 1880 The Cathedral Of Christ The Saviour Commissioned By Tsar Alexander I To Commemorate The French Defeat 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 Nikolay Rubinstein Suggested That A Grand Commemorative Piece For Use In Related Festivities. Tchaikovsky Began Work On The Project On October 12 1880 Finishing It Six Weeks Later. The Piece Was Planned To Be 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 Live Cannonfire In Accompaniment Fired From An Electric Switch Panel In Order To Achieve The Precision Demanded By The Musical Score In Which Each Shot Was Specifically Written. This Performance Did Not Actually Take Place. The Plan May Have Been Too Ambitious. Regardless The Assassination Of Alexander II That March Deflated Much Of The Impetus For The Project. In 1882 At The Arts And Industry Exhibition The Overture Was Performed Indoors With Conventional Orchestration. The Cathedral Was Completed In 1883. Meanwhile Tchaikovsky Complained To His Patron Nadezhda Von Meck That He Was "not A Concocter 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 From Time To Time Have Castigated Their Own Work. It Is The Work That Would Have Made The Tchaikovsky Estate Exceptionally Wealthy As It Is One Of The Most Performed And Recorded Works From His Catalog. Logistics Of Safety And Precision In Placement Of The Shots Require Either Well-Drilled Military Crews Using Modern Cannon Or Else The Use Of Sixteen Pieces Of Muzzle-Loading Artillery Since Any Reloading Schemes To Attain The Sixteen Shots Or Even A Semblance Of Them In The Two Minute Time Span Involved Makes Safety And Precision Impossible With 1800s Artillery. Time Lag Alone Precludes Implementation Of Cues For The Shots For 1812-Era Field Pieces. Musicologists Questioned Across The Last Third Of A Century Have Given No Indication That The Composer Ever Heard The Overture Performed In Authentic Accordance With The 1880 Plan. It Is Reported That He Asked Permission To Perform The Piece As Planned In Berlin But Was Denied It. Performances He Conducted On U.S. And European Tours Were Apparently Done With Simulated Or At Best Inexact Shots If With Shots At All A Custom Universal Until Recent Years. Antal Doráti And Erich Kunzel Are The First Conductors To Have Encouraged Exact Fidelity Of The Shots To The Written Score In Live Performances Beginning In New York And Connecticut As Part Of Dorati's Recording And Kunzel In Cincinnati In 1967 With Assistance From J. Paul Barnett Of South Bend Indiana. Of Recorded Versions Of These Performances Dorati's Recording For Mercury Records Is The More Faithful Performance. Dorati Uses An Actual Carillon Called For In The Score And The Bells Are Rung About As Close To A Zvons Then Known. The Art Of Zvon Ringing Was Almost Lost Due To The Russian Revolution Citation Needed . The Dorati Recording Also Uses Actual Period French Cannon For The 1812 Period Which Belonged To The United States Military Academy At West Point.