Transcript 1812 Overture

• Peter was born in Votkinsk, Russia.
He became a lawyer at the age of 19.
• He began the study of music theory at a relatively late age:
21
• To make up for his late start, Peter composed furiously.
• He got married, but was very unhappy.
• Not knowing what to do, he tried to kill himself by wading
in to the icy cold Moscow River.
• He got pneumonia but it didn’t kill him – he was in a coma
for two days.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• He separated from his wife, never to see her again.
• In the meantime, he entered into the service of a wealthy
noble woman.
• In 1891, he traveled to New York, where he participated in
the dedication ceremony of Carnegie Hall.
Carnegie Hall – New York
• Tchaikovsky’s music contains
beautiful melodies that stretch and
leap widely.
• His treatment of the orchestra is quite
colorful.
• His music is full of contrasts.
• Tchaikovsky loved his family and would remain close to them
throughout his life.
• It was a huge opportunity when he was asked compose the
1812 Overture in tribute to the defeat of Napoleon sixty years
before this.
• This overture is a piece of “program music”. (A piece based
on a storyline)
• Tchaikovsky confessed that he found this piece “very loud”.
• The beginning is a Russian chant called “Save Us, O Lord”.
• It starts very slowly.
• The symphony orchestra doubled in size during the Romantic
era, achieving its present size of about 100 players.
• As it grew, and as improvements were made, the orchestra’s
expressive qualities became the main focus of composers.
• Tchaikovsky often used the different sections of the orchestra
against each other for contrast.
• After this solemn beginning, you can hear bits of the French
National Anthem which are counterattacked by bits of the
folk song “U vorot”.
• This is a musical fight! You can hear the different parts of
the orchestra playing against each other.
• The theme of marching armies follows, carried out by the
horns. The French national anthem reflects the French
victories in the war and the capture of Moscow in September
1812.
• The Russian folk dance theme expresses the battle beating
back Napoleon.
• The music dies away as the forces of Napoleon retreat from
Russia.
• The firing of cannon reflects the military advances toward the
French borders.
• With the end of the conflict over, we return to the peal of
bells and fireworks for the victory and the liberation of Russia
from the French.
• Below the cannon and the horns, we hear the Russian
national anthem, “God Save the Tsar”.
• The actual cannon blasts used by Tchaikovsky are usually
played by a bass drum.
• When this piece is performed, often it will use real cannon
fire!
• Although the 1812 Overture was not his favorite or his best
piece, Tchaikovsky is often remembered because of this piece.