The Festival Coronation March in D major, TH 50, ČW 47, is an orchestral work by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky ordered by the city of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of Tsar Alexander III in 1883. It was written during March 1883 and performed for the first time on [ O.S. ], 1883 in

Sokolniki Park Sokolniki Park, named for the falconry, falcon hunt of the grand princes of Principality of Moscow, Moscow formerly conducted there, is located in the eponymous Sokolniki District of Moscow. Sokolniki Park is not far from the center of the Mo ...

(Moscow), conducted by

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of musical composition, composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire, to a cultur ...

. The music included excerpts of the anthem ''God Save the Tsar.'' Recordings of this piece generally run between 5 and 5½ minutes.

First performances

The

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

premiere was on , conducted by

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

. The American premiere was on , for the opening concert of

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, conducted by Tchaikovsky himself.

Modern revisions

During the Soviet Era, Russian performances and recordings of the music were revised to omit the excerpts from the Czarist national anthem, replacing it with thematic material used earlier in the march. Other works that quoted or otherwise used the anthem, such as Tchaikovsky's '' Marche Slave'' and ''

1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The piece commemorates Russia's successful defense against the ...

'', were also revised, due to an official Soviet ban on the anthem. Starting with

Dmitri Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

’s inauguration in 2008, an abbreviated version of this piece is played during the

Russian presidential inauguration The Russian presidential inauguration () is a ceremony to mark the start of a term of the president of Russia. The president's term is six years (formerly four years). In the case of extraordinary election, the inauguration is conducted thirty ...

accompanying the entrance of the incoming president. This version lasts less than two minutes, and so ends well before the playing in this piece of the Tsarist anthem '' God Save the Tsar''. Unlike Tchaikovsky’s other major compositions, the ''Coronation March'' does not have an

opus number In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among ...

.Tchaikovsky Research: ''Coronation March'' (TH 50)
/ref> It has been given the alternative catalogue designations TH 50 and ČW 47.Polina Vaidman, Liudmila Korabel’nikova, Valentina Rubtsova, ''Thematic and Bibliographical Catalogue of P. I. Čajkovskij's Works'' (2006), and ''P. I. Čajkovskij. New Edition of the Complete Works'' (1993–date)

References

External links

Tchaikovsky ResearchVarious performances of this piece
on

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One specific recording
where the Soviets chopped out the '' God Save the Tsar'' music (at 4:10), causing a bad editing glitch
Downloadable recordings of the marchVideo
of

’s entrance into his inauguration on , accompanied by an abbreviated version of this piece.
Video
of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

’s entrance into his third inauguration on , accompanied by an abbreviated version of this piece. Orchestral compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Orchestral marches Compositions in D major 1883 compositions Alexander III of Russia Coronation {{classical-composition-stub