Overture 1812

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Performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2005)

The overture solennelle “1812” op. 49 is a work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , which depicts Russia's victory in the Napoleonic Wars in 1812 . It premiered with great success in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Moscow) on August 20, 1882 .

History of origin

The 1812 overture was a commissioned composition for Tchaikovsky by Nikolaj Rubinstein . Originally, the overture was intended for the solemn inauguration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow , which Tsar Alexander I had built out of gratitude for the victory against Napoleon . Due to an attack on Tsar Alexander II , the church, which is a central building of Russian Orthodoxy and Tsarism in the 19th century, was not consecrated until later.

occupation

Piccolo flute , 2 flutes , 2 oboes , English horn , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 cornet à pistons , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , triangle , tambourine , snare drum , cymbals , bass drum , church bells , cannons, Strings . Optional is yet Banda cited.

The score says about the cannons: An instrument that is used in the theater to simulate cannon shots.

Musical structure

Overture 1812 - Skidmore College Orchestra

The overture 1812 corresponds in essence to a Battaglia and essentially follows the structure of such: List of armies - battle noise - victory song (cf. for example Beethoven's Wellington's victory or the battle of Vittoria ). The piece is introduced with solemn sounds, which are intended to remind of the services in Russian churches after the declaration of war. Tchaikovsky uses the orthodox troparion of the Holy Cross ("God protect your people").

After a passage of uncertainty, the (musical) line-up of the Russian troops follows. This is followed by the first passage of the struggle in which the French Marseillaise can be heard and can be seen as a symbol of the initial French victories in the war and the occupation of Moscow in September 1812 . The Marseillaise was not the French national anthem in 1812, but at the time the work was written it was all the more a musical symbol for the French. This is followed by a theme that reflects a kind of hope; in F sharp major it shines even more after the "battle noise".

The following Russian folk dance theme U worot, worot brings a folkloric element (indicative of the accompaniment with the tambourine) to the overture. In times of Russian expansion throughout the 19th century, the return to tradition - on the one hand the Orthodox Church, on the other hand folk songs - plays an important role. Another passage of the struggle follows, in which the Marseillaise and the Russian folk song “fight” one another. In this passage cannon shots can also be heard, which underpin the fight again, which ends in a long passage of string exits without it becoming clear who will emerge victorious. Only the following part, in which the opening chorale now sounds majestically pompous in the tutti with the peal of bells, makes the Russian victory a certainty.

The conclusion is formed by the Russian tsarist hymn God receive the tsar by Alexei Lwow , which can now optionally be supported by a banda . These scenes were also in War and Peace by Tolstoy described.

effect

Today it is a play that is often played and acclaimed in popular concerts , although Tchaikovsky initially viewed the overture rather skeptically and denied it any artistic value. For example, he wrote to Nadeschda von Meck : The overture will be quite loud and noisy, but since I wrote it without love, it has no artistic value.

Even after the fall of the tsar, the work remained popular in the Soviet Union . However, the tsar's hymn was a thorn in the side of the regime, which is why it was replaced by Heil dir, Heil dir, o Russia's tsar from the Glinka opera A Life for the Tsar (then known as Iwan Sussanin ).

On his tour to the USA in 1891, Tchaikovsky conducted his Marche Solennelle (not to be confused with the Overture Solennelle) for the opening of Carnegie Hall on May 5, 1891. The 1812 overture was subsequently performed in the USA on the national holiday on July 4th , as the year in the title also suggests the Second American Revolutionary War , which also began in 1812.

Adaptations

  • The overture gained additional fame through the use of a striking passage from it for the intro of Night of Fear , the first top hit (1967) by the British pop group The Move .
  • The Swingle Singers have a slightly shortened a cappella version of the overture (including “Bells” and “Cannons”) in their repertoire.
  • Rainbow processes the overture in the drum solo of her title Still I'm Sad . This is u. a. Documented on the Munich live album from 1977 (with “bells” and “cannons”).
  • The hip-hop group Army of the Pharaohs uses part of the first largo of the overture as a sample in their track The Presidents Wife .

Feature films

  • In the film Help! (1965) by the Beatles, the last part of the overture is played after the tank was shot down.
  • In the 1983 film Gorky Park , a triple murder is committed just as the cannons are shot down, which is why it goes unnoticed by passers-by.
  • In the film The Dead Poets Club (1989), John Keating ( Robin Williams ) hums excerpts from the melody of the overture several times.
  • In the film Explosiv - Blown Away (1994), the overture 1812 is played at the end of the film for the fireworks to celebrate July 4th . Kate Dove (played by Suzy Amis ), the wife of the main protagonist James "Jimmy" Dove (played by Jeff Bridges ), plays a violin in the orchestra .
  • In the film Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), writer Frances Mayes, played by Diane Lane , sings the overture in her newly bought Bramasole house in Tuscany while it is stormy outside.
  • In the film V for Vendetta (2005), the theme of the soundtrack builds on this overture.

TV Shows

  • In an episode of the second season of the series The A-Team there is a short excerpt from the overture when the US Army shoots at and storms a building where they suspect the protagonists are.
  • In the Simpsons episode 7F06, the primary school orchestra performs the overture, including bells and cannons.
  • In the science fiction series Farscape , a DRD (a kind of maintenance robot) called "1812" appears for the first time in episode one of the fourth season, which starts the overture together with the protagonist.
  • In the series Mozart in the Jungle , the New York Philharmonic play the overture at a spontaneous rehearsal outside (season 1, episode 6, “Overture 1812”).
  • In the 13th episode of the tenth season of the series Columbo , the murderer, conductor Findlay Crawford, plays an excerpt from the overture to Inspector Columbo at the beginning of the questioning and conducts it from his desk.
  • In the 14th episode of the first season of the series Sledge Hammer! an excerpt can be heard on Sledge Hammer's car radio, who enthusiastically accompanies the cannon strikes with gestures.
  • In the 18th episode of the first season of the series Millennium - Fear Your Neighbor As Yourself , the overture can be heard in scenes set on Mount Baker , North Cascades , Washington

Further

  • In the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore , the overture is played by the protagonist during a crucial phase.
  • In the board game Cracks the Safe , a synthesizer version of the overture is played if the game is won.
  • In the computer game Risk II for the board game Risk , the 1812 overture is used as menu background music.
  • In the computer game Overwatch , the overture is played every now and then by the explosives expert Junkrat.
  • In the computer game Payday 2 Locke plays the overture when storming the bunker in the level "Under the Mountain"
  • The Gottlieb company has a pinball machine called Class of 1812 , which builds on the themes of this piece and uses them musically.

Trivia

  • Because of the use of cannons and church bells , recordings of the piece are also often used to test the dynamic capabilities of high-quality playback systems . For example, the record pressing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Kunzel from 1979 (Telarc DG-10041) contains deflections of the record groove of approx. 300 µm (a maximum of 80 µm is normal) through real cannon shots that are digitally recorded and added in the final processing. . Very few, perfectly matched and adjusted cartridge-tonearm combinations are able to sample such amplitudes. Usually the stylus jumps out of the groove; this can damage the scanning diamond or even break the needle carrier.
  • John Bonham , drummer for the British rock band Led Zeppelin , had planned to record the entire rhythmic part himself. However, this did not happen because he died in 1980.
  • The Calvin and Hobbes- band "From monsters, girls and best friends" by Bill Watterson Calvin commented the piece, as Hobbes hears records:
Calvin: I kind of like it. Interesting drum passage.
Hobbes: Those are cannons.
Calvin: They play in full concert halls? And I thought classical music was boring!

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Floros Konstantin: Peter Tschaikowsky . Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2006, p. 52.
  2. ↑ See God preserve thy people
  3. ↑ See Сергей Лемешев У ворот, ворот
  4. ↑ Floros Konstantin: Peter Tschaikowsky . Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2006, p. 144.
  5. ↑ cf. z. B. the 1974 recording conducted by Yevgeny Fyodorowitsch Svetlanov .
  6. ^ Concert on July 4th
  7. ↑ Bill Watterson: Calvin and Hobbes. Of monsters, girls and best friends. From the American by Waltraud Götting. Carlsen Comics, Germany o. O. 2009, p. 157.