Tchaikovsky’s 1812- The Best Part of the Concert In the Park!

Hello again! It's Friday! The last day of September's blog week. September is the month when the Symphony Orchestra of the college I just graduated from performs their annual free Concert In the Park. I'm so excited! It will be the 5th time that I've attended and the 4th time that I've attended as an audience member. As I mentioned in the Tuesday blog of this week, I performed and played my Cello with the Symphony in the fall of 2018 performance. It was an interesting experience to perform outside at night. We had lamps with clips that attached to our music stands. When it got dark, we turned on the lamps so that we could see our sheet music. However, this attracted unwanted bugs that I tried to squash with my bow.

The other three years, 2019-2021, that I went to it were great as well! Each time I got to spend time with friends. In 2019 I got to share snacks with friends during the performance. We also got to listen to some jazzy film scores. That was the one time that I attended a Symphony Orchestra Concert that included a saxophone! All the other years, from what I recall, mostly had classical songs. At last year's performance, I noticed two little girls jumping and dancing to the classical song being performed. It's not every day that would happen in a Concert Hall.

Like I mentioned before in Tuesday's blog, the concert always starts with patriotic songs no matter what the theme is for that year's performance. This annual concert always ends with the same song every year as well: The 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky! This song was written in memory of when Napoleon attacked Russia. Even though it's not exactly patriotic for Americans, the climax of the song is so powerful that we can't help but perform and listen to it! Tchaikovsky even included church bells and cannons in the sheet music! Instead of cannons, this annual performance (and most likely many other performances) replace the cannon shots with fireworks! When I performed it in 2018, I was required to put an earplug in the ear closest to the fireworks so that I wouldn't get ear damage. It made it difficult to play the beginning though because of how quiet we needed to play in the string section. And since I was Cello 8, all the way to the back of my section, it was hard to see my conductor leading the music in the dark.

Anyways, since I performed this song already, each time I've attended as an audience member I knew exactly when the fireworks were about to shoot into the air. I'd get excited as I heard the long, low note played by the Cellos and Bass. The other instruments would play the theme of the French National Anthem over and over. I'd lean over to my friends and whisper excitedly, "Here come the fireworks!" Suddenly there's a big BOOM! The crowd gasps loudly as the sky is filled with bright lights! This moment of anticipation in the song has excited me each year, even when I was performing it and couldn't watch the fireworks. Every time I came to Orchestra practice, I wanted to play the song over and over again. I couldn't wait for the official concert and the fireworks!

Once again, and for the 5th time, I'm excitedly anticipating the free Concert in the Park! This time is the first time I'll be watching it as a post college student! Since I have a bit more time on my hands, I've decided to do a little "Research Paper" on this Overture. For some reason it's actually FUN to research information when I'm doing it out of sincere curiosity and I'm not going to be graded on it! I'd like to share with you a summarized history that inspired the song, how Tchaikovsky used a Symphony Orchestra to tell the story of that history, and how it affected people.

Research Time!

History of the 1812 War

I remember hearing from a teacher at one point in either middle school or high school that Napoleon Bonaparte had tried to take over Russia but had failed to do so because of an extremely cold winter. We didn't go into detail about this moment in history though. Up until now, I had no idea that this choice he made had inspired an amazing Overture! In fact, it was also because of the choices that Tzar Alexander I, the ruler of Russia at that time, had made. Russia had already been "browbeaten into becoming allies" with France, but after Napoleon had decided to create an embargo called the Continental System, Alexander got a bit rebellious by demanding a heavy tax on French expensive products. Tzar Alexander I even rejected Napoleon's proposal to marry one of his sisters. 

These actions created tension between Russia and France. By June 24th of 1812 Napoleon gathered a large army and headed straight to Russia. The French would attack and the Russians would retreat, setting their crops and stores on fire in the process to deny the French any sustenance. By October 19th, Napoleon realized that his troops could not survive in the winter of Russia and retreated. It took until December for them to reach back to their homes. This defeat both saved the Russians and gave other countries the courage to fight against him!

The Musical Narrative

Fast forward to 1880, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was almost complete. It was commissioned to celebrate the Russian's victory, and Tchaikovsky ended up being the one chosen to compose a Symphony for that celebration. Tchaikovsky accepted…and he wrote it in 6 weeks! How does one compose a 15 minute masterpiece that tells the story of a war within only 6 weeks?? Well as I researched information for this song, I found out that he took melodies from other songs to tell this story.

The very beginning- the part that I couldn't hear with an ear plug in my right ear- is a Russian Orthodox Hymn called, "O Lord, Save Thy People". It's also known as, "Troparion of the Holy Cross". Tchaikovsky used this Hymn to represent "when the Russian Holy Synod first received word of Napoleon's army marching towards Moscow" and "put out a nation wide call to prayer." This doesn't stop the French and the quiet Hymn is interrupted by loud brass and the French National Anthem, "La Marseillaise". The "battle noise" dies down for a moment and is replaced by a lyrical section and a Russian folk-dance tune called, "At the Gate". These melodies represent the Russian townspeople in Russia. One description of the musical narrative states that:

As Napoleon gets closer to Moscow, the Russians realize their Imperial Army is just a fraction of the French Grande Armée. 

As such, Russia's Tsar appeals to his people to join the army and defend their nation.

These melodies go back and forth until… that magical moment moment I mentioned before when the French melody is repeated until the cannon blasts! This moment in the song is followed by descending 16th notes and ritardando in the strings. This represents the French winning the Battle of Borodino and taking over Moscow before retreating because of the sudden intense winter.

This retreat in the strings is followed by Church bells and a repeat of the Orthodox Hymn. This time, in celebration of the victory and answer to prayers, it is played by the whole symphony. I love this contrast between the quiet vibrato in the strings at the beginning and the loud accented notes at the end! I also love the way the note Ab is accented so strongly as it is repeated for 13 times!

One source I found states that the ending includes the Russian National Anthem, "God Save the Tzar" being played over the French National Anthem which plays faster symbolizing a retreat. While the Russian National Anthem is definitely playing as cannon shots are heard, I disagree that there is any hint of the French National Anthem. It's easy to confuse this anthem with the celebratory tune at the end, but I recognized the difference between the two by writing the Solfege and notes of the two tunes.

French National Anthem:

So So Do Re Re So Mi Do, Do Mi Do La Fa Re Ti Do

(Bb Bb Eb F F Bb G Eb, Eb G Eb C Ab F D Eb) 

Celebratory tune: 

So Do Re Mi Re Do Re Mi Do Do

(Bb Eb F G F Eb F G Eb Eb)

This tune is heard only one other time when the battle drums come in, so it can be easily assumed to be a part of the French Anthem. I never heard this tune while listening to the French National Anthem, and it was introduced before the Anthem. As far as I know, Tchaikovsky either made it up or used a battle song to introduce the battle and to celebrate its ending.

The Impact

Speaking of Tchaikovsky, he hated this piece! He says that it was "very loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit, obviously written without warmth or love." He had the option to choose between three topics, and he chose this war. He wrote it in 6 weeks, and since the performance got delayed 2 years he could have changed things if he didn't like it! He was the one who chose to use cannons and "originally wanted all the church bells in Moscow to ring during the performance" and had to be content with just the bells of the Uspensky Cathedral. This guy makes no sense!! 

I was thinking that he was old and didn't have the stamina to listen, but he was born in 1840. He was only 40 and was complaining about his own music being too loud! Then again, the ability to have coordinated cannon shots weren't as likely to be accomplished back then. It's really convenient that one of the music teachers would tell the person who would light the fireworks EXACTLY when they needed to shoot them in the air!

But even though the composer didn't like his own song, The 1812 Overture has made an overall positive impact on the world. It sure has made a good impact on me! I like it even more now that I've done some research on it and even more excited to watch this year's performance of it!

Thanks for reading my post guys! Make sure you check out my YouTube videos, buy the sheet music of my original songs, and/or donate to my website! Do you think that the final tune of the song is part of the French National Anthem? Do you have strong positive or negative feelings towards this Overture? Let me know in the comments down below!

Here are the links to the resources I found that you can check out for yourself:

1812 History: https://www.history.com/news/napoleons-disastrous-invasion-of-russia

Information on the music: https://blog.oup.com/2013/08/1812-overture-tchaikovsky-romantic-music/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WBPW1SQAI_U

Facts about Tchaikovsky: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1e93pdB5jA

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/tchaikovsky/guides/1812-hated-hit/

https://rewirethewest.com/1812-overture-ultimate-guide/

O Lord, Save Thy People: https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=troparion+of+the+holy+cross+russian

French National Anthem, La Marseillaise: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1GpuLXCdI

At the Gate: https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=at+the+gate+russian+folk+song

Russian National Anthem, God Save the Tzar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8_alMLNjaE