1812 Overture
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''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in
E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...
written in 1880 by Russian composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
. The piece commemorates
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
's successful defense against the French invasion of the nation in 1812. The overture's first public performance, under the baton of Ippolit Al'tani, took place in Moscow on , under a tent, near the still unfinished
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...
, which also memorialised the 1812 defence of Russia.Felsenfeld, Daniel.
Tchaikovsky: A Listener's Guide
', p. 54. Amadeus Press, 2006.
The fifteen-minute overture is best known for its climactic volley of
cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
fire, ringing chimes, and a
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
fanfare finale. It has also become a common accompaniment to
fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
displays on the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
'
Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
. The ''1812 Overture'' went on to become one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works, along with his ballet scores to ''
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'', and '' Swan Lake''.


Instrumentation

The ''1812 Overture'' is scored for an orchestra that consists of the following: *
Brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
: "Open" instrumentation consisting of "any extra brass instruments" available. In some indoor performances, the part may be played on an organ.
Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
or marching bands also play this part. Note: the brass band or its substitute is meant to play during the finale only. * Woodwinds: 1 piccolo, 2
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s, 2
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s, 1 cor anglais, 2
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
s in B and 2
bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...
s *
Brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
: 4 horns in F, 2 cornets in B, 2
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
s in E, 3
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
s (2
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
, 1
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
) and 1
tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...
*
Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
:
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
, orchestral bass drum,
snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...
,
cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
s, tambourine,
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...
,
carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...
* Strings:
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s I & II,
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
s,
cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s and
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
es. *
Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
: One battery of
cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...
or ceremonial field artillery. The carillon is sometimes replaced with tubular bells or recordings of carillons, or even church bells. In the sections that contain cannon shots, actual cannons are sometimes replaced by howitzers, tanks,
fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
, recorded cannons, or played on a piece of staging, usually with a large wooden
mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...
or sledgehammer as used in Mahler's 6th Symphony. The bass drum, and
gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...
/ tam-tam are also regularly used as cannon substitutes or adjuncts in indoor performances. In his 1966
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
recording, Herbert von Karajan scored the first 02'43" (or 36 bars) for voices instead of strings at the start and the subsequent dialogue between strings and woodwind, adding the
Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
plainchant ''God Preserve Thy People'' text to the melody and slightly rearranging the texture to suit voices '' a capella'' rather than instruments. Two years later, the American conductor
Igor Buketoff Igor Konstantin Buketoff (29 May 19157 September 2001) was an American conducting, conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian classical music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted Unit ...
, son of a Russian Orthodox priest, went a stage further on his RCA Victrola recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Not only did he deploy voices for the opening chant but he also had a children's chorus sing the folk tune "By the Gates" and brought the choir back to bolster the chant and the Russian Imperial national anthem '' God Save the Tsar!''.


Composition


Historical background: Napoleon's invasion of Russia

On 7 September 1812, at Borodino, west of Moscow,
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
'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 the French were masters of the field. 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 no delegation to receive the conquerors. Expecting a capitulation from Tsar Alexander I, the French instead found themselves in a barren and desolate city. To make things worse, 48 hours after Napoleon's entry to the Russian city on 14 September 1812, three quarters of Moscow was burned to the ground. Deprived of winter stores, Napoleon had to retreat. Beginning on 19 October and lasting well into December, the French Army faced several overwhelming obstacles on its long retreat:
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
,
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
, freezing temperatures, harassing
cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
, and Russian forces barring the way out of the country. Abandoned by Napoleon in November, the was reduced to one-tenth of its original size by the time it reached
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and relative safety. In 1869, the full edition of '' War and Peace'' by
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
was published. The novel reported a very accurate description of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, reviving memories of the Russian resistance. This led to the commissioning of new monuments, paintings and also of new musical compositions, including Tchaikovsky's.


Commission

The
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...
, commissioned in 1812 by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, was nearing completion in Moscow in 1880; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II would be at hand in 1881; and the 1882 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition at Moscow 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 12 October 1880, finishing it six weeks later. Organizers 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 cueand cannons, fired from an electric switch panel to achieve the precision the musical score required. However, this performance did not take place, possibly due in part 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 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition, the Overture was performed in a tent next to the unfinished cathedral. The cathedral was completed on 26 May 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 ithoutartistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love." He put it together in six weeks. 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. In Russia, during the Soviet era, the imperial anthem was replaced with the chorus " Glory, Glory to you, holy Rus'!" (''Славься, славься, святая Русь!''), which came from the finale of Mikhail Glinka's opéra '' Ivan Susanin'', a historical drama about a patriotic commoner of the same name. The original version of the song, written by Vasily Zhukovsky and Egor Fyodorovich Rozen, praised the Tsar and the Russian Tsardom, while the latter version by Sergey Gorodetsky was one of a patriotic form and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial anthem of Russia in the 20th century and even today. With the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
at the end of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, the original score returned.


Adaptation in other contexts

As a rousing patriotic hymn, the Overture has subsequently been adapted into and associated with other contexts than that of the Russian resistance to Napoleon's invasion. The ''1812 Overture'' is popularly known in the United States as a symbol of the United States Independence Day, a tradition that dates back to a 1974 choice made by Arthur Fiedler for a performance at the
Boston Pops The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...
July 4th concert. The piece was parodied by composer Malcolm Arnold in ''A Grand, Grand Overture'' which features 4 rifles, three Hoover vacuum cleaners (two uprights in B♭ and one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electric floor polisher in E♭; it is dedicated to President Hoover.


Structure

The piece begins with the simple, plaintive Russian melody of the
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
''
Troparion A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...
of the Holy Cross'' (also known as "O Lord, Save Thy People") played by four cellos and two violas. This represents the Russian people praying for a swift conclusion to the invasion. Then, the French
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
, " La Marseillaise", is heard, representing the invading French army. Then, the melody of "La Marseillaise" is heard competing against Russian
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
, representing the two armies fighting each other as the French approached Moscow. At this point, five cannon shots are heard, representing the Battle of Borodino. This is where "La Marseillaise" is most prominent, and seems to be winning. After this, a long descending run represents the French army retreating out of Moscow as the freezing winter winds rage on. At the end of this run the opening motif is repeated, which can be interpreted as prayers being answered. The grand finale culminates with eleven more cannon shots and the melody of " God Save the Tsar!".


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 certainly not have been played during the Russian campaign. It was only reinstated as the French anthem in 1879the year before the commission of the overturewhich can explain its use by Tchaikovsky in the overture. " Chant du départ", nicknamed "the brother of the Marseillaise" by French Republican soldiers, served as the official anthem of Napoleon's regime. However, it had been largely forgotten by 1882, while educated Russians of the time were likely to be familiar with the tune of "La Marseillaise" and recognize its significance. Although " God Save the Tsar!" was the
Russian national anthem The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union, State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alex ...
during Tchaikovsky's lifetime, it did not exist in 1812. There was no official Russian anthem until 1815, from which time until 1833 the anthem was " The Prayer of Russians" (), sung to the tune of "
God Save the King "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is ''de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of national anthems of New Zealand, two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle ...
". The two songs both start with the same words, God Save the Tsar!, but diverge after that.


Themes

''O Lord, Save thy People'' represents the praying for deliverance from the invading army. A part of this hymn translates to "Grant victory to all Orthodox Christians over their enemies." By including this hymn in the piece, Tchaikovsky is suggesting that God granted the Orthodox Russians victory over the French imperial troops. Later in the piece when '' La Marseillaise'' is played, it seems as though the Russians will lose the battle. Then ''O Lord, Save thy People'', along with '' God Save the Tsar!'', is played powerfully in the brass section with a strong display of chimes in the background. The ringing chimes are written to represent the bells of Moscow. The Bells of Moscow hold significance, because in the Russian Orthodox religion, the bells symbolize the voice of God.


Lyrics

In the introduction, the prayer Tropar Krestu (Troparion to the Cross) is used. There are four versions of this prayer used in the introduction. ;First version ;Second version ;Third version ;Fourth version


Performance practice

In a live performance, the logistics of safety and precision in placement of the shots require either well-drilled military crews using modern
cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...
, or 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 fewer than sixteen 1812-era field pieces.


Recording history

The earliest traceable orchestral recording, which does not include the shots and features no percussion apart from bells, was by the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
Orchestra conducted by Landon Ronald, and issued by
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
on three 12-inch 78-rpm sides in 1916. A Royal Opera Orchestra recording of about the same time similarly contains no shots at all. Antal Doráti's 1954
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
recording with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, partially recorded at
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
, and using the Yale Memorial Carillon in
New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
, Connecticut, uses a Napoleonic French single
muzzleloading Muzzleloading is the shooting sport of firing muzzleloader, muzzleloading guns. Muzzleloading guns, both antique and reproduction, are used for target shooting, hunting, historical re-enactment and historical research. The sport originated in the ...
cannon shot dubbed in 16 times as written. On the first edition of the recording, one side played the ''Overture'' and the other side played a narrative by
Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American composer, radio commentator, music critic, and author. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." He was e ...
about how the cannon and bell effects were accomplished. (Later editions placed the commentary after the performance on side 1 and the '' Capriccio Italien'' on side 2.) A stereophonic version was recorded on 5 April 1958, using the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, at Riverside Church. On this Mercury Living Presence Stereo recording, the spoken commentary was also given by Deems Taylor and the 1812 was coupled with Tchaikovsky's '' Capriccio Italien''. Later editions coupled the ''1812 Overture'' with Dorati's recording of
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's '' Wellington's Victory'', which featured the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
and real cannon. The Black Dyke Band has recorded a brass band arrangement of the piece. This recording on their album ''Symphonic Brass'' includes the cannon shots as originally written. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert Von Karajan, and the Don Cossacks Choir recorded the piece in 1967 for
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. In 1971, CBS released a recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, also featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Valley Forge Military Academy band and real artillery shots. British rock drummer
Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, B ...
sampled the overture at the end of the track "Over The Top" in his eponymous 1979 studio album. The first digital recording occurred in 1979 by
Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...
with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra headlining under the leadership of Erich Kunzel. The Kiev Symphony Chorus was secured and brought stateside for the express purpose of this recording, while the Children's Choir of Greater Cincinnati (presently doing business as the Cincinnati Youth Choir), a regular Symphony and Pops collaborator to this day, supplied the children's voices. The recording features the tones of the Emery Memorial Carillon (in adjacent
Mariemont, Ohio Mariemont (pronounced ) is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in eastern Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A planned community in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, ...
) to a uniquely magnificent effect alongside high-definition cannon shots using full-sized 19th century military cannons, also specially recorded locally. In addition to becoming Telarc's best-selling record and helping to establish them as a company, the record soon became a popular and well-known method for testing hifi record-playing equipment and related setups. Only the best and most fine-tuned allowed the cannon shots to be played properly (an accompanying warning for users not to destroy their audio equipment was included with the record). In 1989, the Swingle Singers recorded an
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
version of the overture as part of an album whose title is ''1812''. In 1990, during a worldwide celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth, the ''Overture'' was recorded in the city of his youth by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra using 16 muzzleloading cannons fired live as written in the 1880 score. That recording was done within earshot of the composer's grave. The festival was televised for the first time in the United States on 9 March 1991. The Texan band "The Invincible Czars" released a rock version of ''1812 Overture'' for the bicentennial of the Battle of Borodino in September 2012. The band had already debuted their arrangement of the piece at the 20th annual OK Mozart classical music festival at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with professional orchestra musicians, in June 2009, complete with fireworks at the finale.


In popular culture

*The piece is featured prominently in both the opening and ending scenes of the film ''
V for Vendetta ''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing Serial (li ...
''. *The melody of Dan Fogelberg's top ten hit " Same Old Lang Syne" is drawn from the distinctive leitmotif that represents the Russian forces in the piece. *The piece is mentioned in a
Calvin and Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was Print syndication, syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly described as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin a ...
comic strip, where Calvin is fascinated by the usage of cannons in the piece. * The climactic finale of the piece is one of the classical music selections in the score of the Beatles' film, ''
Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...
'' *The riff of
The Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
's 1966 hit single " Night of Fear" was adapted from ''1812 Overture''. *The 1977 film '' The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' uses a portion of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Also, the movie's theme song, James Rolleston's "Life is Lookin' Good," uses a variation of the music. *Canadian progressive rock band Rush adopted the famous brass theme of ''1812 Overture'' in their suite '' 2112'', from their album of the same name. Significantly, other than being included in a similarly titled piece of music, Tchaikovsky's theme is featured in the first section of the song, which is itself titled "Overture". Also, cannon shots are heard at the end of Rush's "Overture". *"The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim" (Episode 5, Series 2, of the British drama series, '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'' (1990)), the title character plays a record of the ''1812 Overture'' so that the cannon fire will mask the sound of him breaking into his own safe. *A shortened version of the piece is featured as a
sea shanty A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ...
in the Xbox One game '' Sea of Thieves''. It is playable by characters using any one of the game's four playable instruments. *English slapstick comedian Charlie Drake performed part of the overture in a short film for television, with himself playing the conductor and all the musicians. In 1967 it won the Golden Rose at the Montreux Festival. *When Ratchet performs his RYNO V (gatling gun) Super Move in the 2012 game '' PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale'', a brief portion of the music can be heard. *A comedic version of the piece is performed in the 2017 superhero film '' Captain Underpants.'' This version is
flatulence Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...
-related. *The ''1812 Overture'' can be heard during the 2022 film '' Sonic the Hedgehog 2''. *The
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
Band of the Fighting Irish plays a version of the piece during the intermission between the third and fourth quarters of every
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is a college football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana (CDP), Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the ca ...
home game. *The iconic melody featured at the end of the composition was adapted for the entrance theme of AEW professional wrestler Claudio Castagnoli. *On 5 January 2022, Russia's space agency
Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...
used the piece during the launch webcast for the Elektro-L-4 satellite on a Proton-M rocket, the design of which is approaching retirement. The accompanying video synchronised Proton launches with the beat of the music. *
P. D. Q. Bach P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele for a five-decade career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines Par ...
composed the pieces for the 1989 musical parody album '' 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults''. *Willy Chirino's "La Noche Perfecta" from his 1991 album Oxígeno includes the 1812 Overture in the second half of the song. *The piece is referred to disparagingly in ''
Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...
'' (Episode 3, Series 1) when Frasier reminds Niles that the latter once considered it a great piece of classical music.


References


External links

*
Tchaikovsky Research

Article from 2003 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on how "1812" has become a piece of patriotic Americana


by Bruce Duffie, 20 November 1999 {{italic title
Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...
1880 compositions Overtures by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Compositions for symphony orchestra Compositions in E-flat major Concert band pieces Concert overtures Russian patriotic songs American patriotic songs British patriotic songs Works about the French invasion of Russia La Marseillaise