Overture 1812
The 1812 Overture, Op. 49 is a romantic overture written by the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880. The piece was written to commemorate the victory of the Russian resistance in 1812 against the advance of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée.
The overture premiered in Moscow on August 20, 1882, conducted by Ippolit Al'tani under a marquee near the then unfinished Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and was conducted by Tchaikovsky himself in 1891 at the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York, in what was one of the first times that a major European composer visited the United States.
The final climax, in the original score, includes a salvo of cannon shots and the pealing of bells.
The overture has become a common accompaniment to fireworks displays on Independence Day in the United States. The 1812 Overture is one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works, along with other works such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
Instrumentation
The 1812 Overture is written to be performed by an orchestra composed of:
- Wind-madera: a flute, two flautas traverseras, two oboes, an English corn, two clarinets in bemol and two fagotes.
- Wind-metal: four horns in fa, two horns in bemol, two trumpets in my bemol, three trombones and one tuba.
- Percussion: timbales, pump, orchestral box, plates, pandereta, triangle, carillon (which can be replaced by some tubular bells) and a cannon (or several for synchronization reasons, however they are frequently replaced by shooting recordings, extra percussion or other instruments that simulgate the sound of the shots).
- Cuerda: first and second violins, violas, cello and bass.
- Choir (in some versions)
Musical structure
The tempos of the only movement of this piece are Lento - Andante - Allegro giusto - Largo and Allegro vivace. In the score there are written sixteen cannon shots. The work begins with a religious melody of the Russian Orthodox Church, played by eight cellos and four violas, reminiscent of how the people were notified at church services all over Russia of the declaration of war against France. Sometimes this part of the overture is sung a cappella by a choir, although it is not original to the composer. It continues with a mixture of traditional melodies (including the dance At the door, at my door) and military, depicting the growing anguish of the Russian people as they find out they are invaded by the French army. The piece continues with a march presented by brass, where the armies are heard charging to face each other in the battle of Borodino. A repetitive and triumphant fragment of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, serves to represent the invading army and Napoleon's victory over the Russians. Next, a diminuendo in the music represents the Russian retreat, avoiding direct confrontation with French troops while leaving scorched earth behind. The brass march and the fragment of La Marseillaise sound again, to indicate the entry of the French into a burning Moscow. The fragment of La Marseillaise continues to play, now in diminuendo, indicating the withdrawal of the French troops, while a crescendo indicates the Russian siege. Five cannon shots accompany the advance of the Russians expressed in string instruments and brass, which prepare the field for the triumphant closing with the counterpoint between the leitmotif representing the Russian army and the imperial anthem Russian God Save the Tsar, supported by eleven cannon shots and a peal of bells. This ending shows an anachronism, since God Save the Tsar was not the Russian anthem in 1812, but was at the time Tchaikovsky composed the work.
Composition
Historical context
On September 7, 1812, in Borodinó (120 km west of Moscow) Napoleon's troops faced the forces of General Mikhail Kutuzov in the only formal battle fought by the Russians against, until then, practically undefeated French army. The Battle of Borodino had an estimated 100,000 casualties and was a Pyrrhic victory for Napoleon. With their resources depleted, Napoleon's battered forces advanced on Moscow, abandoned by the Russians, which on the arrival of the French captured without finding resistance from the Russians. Awaiting the capitulation of Tsar Alexander I, the French found themselves trapped in a burning city, far from their supply lines. Unable to establish his winter quarters, Napoleon was forced to leave Russia. Between October 19 and December, the French army faced several overwhelming setbacks in its long retreat: hunger, low temperatures, and the constant siege of Russian forces. Abandoned by Napoleon in December, the Grande Armée found itself reduced to one-tenth of its number by the time it reached Poland.
The 1812 Overture can be interpreted as a literal representation of the Napoleonic campaign in Russia: in June 1812 the French army made up of more than half a million soldiers and almost 1200 pieces of artillery crossed the Nemen River in Lithuania. The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, aware that the inexperienced and poorly equipped Imperial Russian army could not stand up to the most powerful war machine of its time, called on the people to pray for liberation and peace. The Russian people responded en masse, congregating in churches across Russia to offer their prayers for divine intervention (represented by the opening religious hymn). The ominous notes that follow express the imminence of the conflict and the preparation for battle, in a cross between despair and great enthusiasm, followed by the distant sounds of La Marseillaise representing the French advance. The two armies meet at Borodinó and La Marseillaise prevails after a hard fight. The tsar appeals to the Russian spirit with an eloquent plea, calling on his people to go ahead and defend Mother Russia. This passionate request and the popular response are captured in the following traditional Russian piece. The Marseillaise rises again, signaling the advance on Moscow by French forces. The Russians abandon their towns and cities on the way to Moscow, leaving scorched earth behind, and the crescendo of traditional Russian music prevails against the French anthem, until this clash reaches a high point, signaling the fall of the last line. of Russian defense, while Moscow burns. At the moment of the capture of Moscow, when everything seems lost, the religious hymn of the beginning is heard again representing divine intervention, which brings an extreme winter for which the French were not prepared. The invading troops begin their retreat, but their cannons, stuck in the frozen ground, are captured by the Russians who fire them to drive them off. In the tremendous finale, the cannons are fired as a sign of triumph, with the support of the church bells.
Custom
In 1880, construction was nearing completion on the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned by Tsar Alexander II to commemorate the Russian victory. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II would be in 1881 and in 1882 Moscow would host the Exhibition of Art and Industry. Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor, suggested that he compose a great commemorative work to be performed at these celebrations. Tchaikovsky began work on the composition on October 12, 1880, and finished six weeks later.
He had planned to perform the work in the square in front of the cathedral, with a brass band accompanying the orchestra, the cathedral bells and other bells in the surrounding area ringing peals and artillery salutes fired from an electrical panel to ensure the precision required by the score, in which each shot must sound at the right time. However, this plan was very ambitious and could not be carried out. Furthermore, the assassination of Alexander II in March 1881 took the impetus out of the project. In 1882, at the Exhibition of Art and Industry, the 1812 Overture premiered with conventional orchestration in a marquee near the unfinished cathedral. The cathedral was inaugurated in 1883.
Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky was expressing his disappointment to his patron and patron Nadezhda von Meck, saying that the 1812 Overture would be "very loud and noisy, but devoid of artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth." nor affection”, thus adding to the legion of artists who from time to time have belittled their own work. Ironically, this piece is one of Tchaikovsky's most recognized works, one of the most performed and recorded in his catalogue.
Interpretation
The logistics of safety and precision at the time of the artillery salvoes require, for a rigorous execution, well-trained troops to fire a modern cannon or the use of sixteen front-loading cannons, since the necessary reloads to carry out sixteen safe and accurate shots would be impossible to achieve with a single 19th century cannon.
Many musicologists consider[who?] that Tchaikovsky never heard the work as he wrote it. Tchaikovsky is known to have applied for permission to perform the work in Berlin as planned for the premiere but was refused. Other performances he conducted in Europe and America included simulated or inaccurate cannon fire. Directors Antal Doráti and Erich Kunzel were the first to perform the overture live using actual cannon shots with exact fidelity to how it was written.
Historical recordings
A 1927 recording in Cleveland, USA, contains dozens of simulated “shots” with percussion, playing randomly towards the end of the piece.
A recording of the London Royal Opera Orchestra, from the late 1920s, does not include any gunshots.
The version of the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam conducted by Willem Mengelberg in 1940 includes shots from real cannons.
Antal Doráti was the first director who was able to capture a live performance with exact fidelity of the shots as they are written in the score. Conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the 1954 mono version uses the Yale Memorial Carillon and was partially recorded at West Point Military Academy, which loaned a front-loading French cannon whose single shot was doubled sixteen times in the final mix of Audio. The stereo version was recorded on April 5, 1958, using the recording of the cannon fire, the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, and the University of Minnesota brass band accompanying the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
In 1960, Herbert von Karajan conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker, in a version with percussion instead of artillery.
In 1970 Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, accompanied by the Valley Forge Military College and Academy Military Band and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, includes cannons and bells in the finale.
The 1985 version, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic, has percussion in the finale.
In 1988 (Decca Records) Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with the cannons and bells of the Peter and Paul Fortress of St. Petersburg (then Lenigrad), with the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir conducted by Alexander Kazimirov and the Leningrad Military Orchestra conducted by Nikolai Ushapovsky.
In 1990, at the worldwide celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth, the Overture was recorded by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, using sixteen live-fired front-loading cannons as directed by the original 1880 score. The recording It was made before the grave of the composer.
In 1990, the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov in conjunction with the Leningrad Philharmonic and the Leningrad Military Orchestra, was performed with real cannons located outside the concert hall.
In 1990 Neeme Järvi conducted the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. The ending includes shots from a cannon manned by a division of artillerymen from the Swedish army.
In popular culture
This piece appears in a large number of soundtracks for movies, TV shows, video games, commercials, political campaigns, etc. In chronological order:
- In 1965 in Richard Lester's Help! film and starring The Beatles you can hear the big ending.
- In 1970 director Ken Russell used it in The Music LoversHis biographical film on Chaikovski.
- In 1971, in Woody Allen's Bananas movie, this play is on a scene.
- In 1983 in the film Gorky Park Michael Apted includes melody in his soundtrack.
- In 1986 this work opened the recitals of Oktubre, the second album of the Argentine rock band Patricio Rey and its Redonditos de Ricota.
- In 1989 in the film Dead Poets Society, led by Peter Weir, the character played by Robin Williams continually whistles part of the melody of this obertura.
- It appears in two episodes of the series The Simpsons. In the Bart chapter the fearless Obertura 1812 is played by the band of Springfield Primary School, in a version that includes a coordinated shot of three cannons and bells. You can also hear it in the episode Lisa, the Simpson, at the scene where Homer, Bart and Lisa watch a TV show called When the buildings collapse (When Buildings Collapse), in whose presentation the end of the Obertura accompanies the images of houses that collapsed with estrepito.
- In 1994 in the film Rain of Fire (Blown away) appears the obertura executed in its final part.
- In 1999 it was used by the French National Front in a television spot of the campaign for the elections of the European Parliament.
- In 2002 the main melody of this composition was used in the Argentine series The Simulators in chapter 5 of the first season, entitled "The Young Simulator", as leitmotiv. It was also used regularly and randomly, along with the intervals before and after the normal development of the series.
- In 2003 the cooperative table game was launched for sale Break the Safe and the opening sounds when the players win.
- In 2006 the film V for Vendetta is included in the soundtrack. A fragment is heard at first, when V exploits the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey), and repeats itself at the end, giving substance to the destruction of the British Parliament.
- The characteristic melody of the cargo of the Russian army in the play is used to celebrate the victories of the football team FC Dinamo Moscow.
- In 2009 this piece was incorporated in the realization of a television spot in Mexico, which promotes the acquisition of original brand products, the spot has a duration of 33 seconds and contains different images of The Coyote and the Corridors (Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner) the characters of the American cartoon series created by Warner Brothers, in the commercial the artifacts of the coyote exploded every time the cannons sounded, exemplifying that the defective of the pirate products.
- In 2014 in the series Mozart in the Jungle In episode 6 of the first season entitled "The Rehearsal" the symphonic orchestra interprets a part of the obertura and sounds at the end of the episode in credits.
- In 2016 in the film The Land It sounds briefly at the beginning of the traffic scene the part of the cannons.