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Peter Tchaikovsky
On this Day: Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ Debuts in Moscow
August 20, 2008 12:10 AM
On August 20, 1882, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky introduced the overture at the 1882 Moscow Exhibition. The piece was an immediate success and has remained popular ever since.
Email ThisA ‘Loud and Noisy’ Piece
Although the “1812 Overture” has become Tchaikovsky’s best-known work, the composer was not enthusiastic about writing it, according to Web site Classical Net. In fact, if he had not been offered a generous commission to write the piece for the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Napoleon in 1812, he may never have composed the overture.
While working on the overture in the fall of 1880, Tchaikovsky reportedly called the piece “very loud and noisy,” but the first audience to hear it at the Moscow Exhibition, during the consecration of a cathedral, loved what it heard. The overture went on to be played at many performances throughout Russia and Tchaikovsky conducted the piece many times throughout his life. He even conducted a performance of the overture in 1893, the year that he died.
While working on the overture in the fall of 1880, Tchaikovsky reportedly called the piece “very loud and noisy,” but the first audience to hear it at the Moscow Exhibition, during the consecration of a cathedral, loved what it heard. The overture went on to be played at many performances throughout Russia and Tchaikovsky conducted the piece many times throughout his life. He even conducted a performance of the overture in 1893, the year that he died.
Key Player: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Viatka Province, about 600 miles east of Moscow. His first attempts at musical composition came during his nine years at boarding school, including his first published song, “Mezza notte,” writes Tchaikovsky biographer Alexander Poznansky on a Web site dedicated to the composer.
It was not until he attended a class at the Russian Musical Society in 1861, however, that Tchaikovsky decided to dedicate his life to music. He was among the first students when the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened in 1862. There he studied with famed pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein.
Tchaikovsky began his professional music career in Moscow in 1866, and his early compositions reflected a strong Russian nationalist style. The 1870s and ’80s were productive for the composer, and he wrote several major works, including the “1812 Overture,” but he also suffered from overworking and had several nervous breakdowns.
The composer’s personal life was also a constant source of stress. He married conservatory student Antonina Miliukova, supposedly to suppress rumors about his homosexuality. But less than three months after marrying, Tchaikovsky left his new wife to travel. Despite personal problems, he went on to compose a variety of pieces, including operas and ballets, most famously “Swan Lake,” “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
On Nov. 2, 1893, six days after premiering his final work, the “Symphony No. 6 in B minor,” Tchaikovsky died of cholera at the age of 53.
It was not until he attended a class at the Russian Musical Society in 1861, however, that Tchaikovsky decided to dedicate his life to music. He was among the first students when the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened in 1862. There he studied with famed pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein.
Tchaikovsky began his professional music career in Moscow in 1866, and his early compositions reflected a strong Russian nationalist style. The 1870s and ’80s were productive for the composer, and he wrote several major works, including the “1812 Overture,” but he also suffered from overworking and had several nervous breakdowns.
The composer’s personal life was also a constant source of stress. He married conservatory student Antonina Miliukova, supposedly to suppress rumors about his homosexuality. But less than three months after marrying, Tchaikovsky left his new wife to travel. Despite personal problems, he went on to compose a variety of pieces, including operas and ballets, most famously “Swan Lake,” “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
On Nov. 2, 1893, six days after premiering his final work, the “Symphony No. 6 in B minor,” Tchaikovsky died of cholera at the age of 53.
Later Developments: A Russian overture and the Fourth of July
The “1812 Overture” may have originally brought down the house in Moscow, but in the United States it is most commonly associated with Independence Day.
Many view the piece as a patriotic anthem in the United States, even though it “depicts Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1812, not America’s battles against the British, as many might think,” Andrew Druckenbrod wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in July, 2003, in a story describing the overture’s use in the most American of holidays.
Many view the piece as a patriotic anthem in the United States, even though it “depicts Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1812, not America’s battles against the British, as many might think,” Andrew Druckenbrod wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in July, 2003, in a story describing the overture’s use in the most American of holidays.
So how did it happen?
The “1812 Overture” became part of American tradition in 1974 when Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler performed the piece with a fireworks display and real cannons during Boston’s July 4 celebration by the Charles River.
The performance was broadcast across the nation and symphonies everywhere began playing the overture for their own Fourth of July celebrations.
“He was a good musician but the ultimate showman,” clarinetist Thomas Thompson said of Fiedler to the Post-Gazette. “Audiences loved him, and he was a genius at marketing.”
The New York Times published a story on the Boston Pops/“1812 Overture” phenomenon in 1998. At that point, hundreds of thousands of people were attending the Independence Day event in Boston every year thanks to the famed fireworks display set to music.
Before the first Tchaikovsky-inspired Fourth of July performance in Boston, David Mugar, a businessman who sponsored the concerts, told Fiedler that he worried about the coordination of the “explosive ending” with both the overture and the fireworks, according to The New York Times.
But Fiedler knew the crowds wouldn’t be afraid of the music Tchaikovsky once called “noisy,” and replied, “Oh, don’t worry about it, just let all hell break loose at the end of the piece.”
The “1812 Overture” became part of American tradition in 1974 when Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler performed the piece with a fireworks display and real cannons during Boston’s July 4 celebration by the Charles River.
The performance was broadcast across the nation and symphonies everywhere began playing the overture for their own Fourth of July celebrations.
“He was a good musician but the ultimate showman,” clarinetist Thomas Thompson said of Fiedler to the Post-Gazette. “Audiences loved him, and he was a genius at marketing.”
The New York Times published a story on the Boston Pops/“1812 Overture” phenomenon in 1998. At that point, hundreds of thousands of people were attending the Independence Day event in Boston every year thanks to the famed fireworks display set to music.
Before the first Tchaikovsky-inspired Fourth of July performance in Boston, David Mugar, a businessman who sponsored the concerts, told Fiedler that he worried about the coordination of the “explosive ending” with both the overture and the fireworks, according to The New York Times.
But Fiedler knew the crowds wouldn’t be afraid of the music Tchaikovsky once called “noisy,” and replied, “Oh, don’t worry about it, just let all hell break loose at the end of the piece.”
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