Question by Sam Duncan: What was the occasion that Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture?
hey everyone 🙂
now i know it was based on the historical event of the battle of borodino in 1812, but what was the occasion that he made the piece for?
is it something to do with that church? o.0
Answers and Views:
Answer by Cristina G
Tchaikovsky composed the piece in order to commemorate Russia’s defense of Moscow against Napoleon’s advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. It just debuted in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
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onlyocelot says
The 1812 overture was written in 1880 in preparation for the 25th anniversary of the Coronation of Alexander II.This was to take place in 1881, but the assassination of Alexander II changed plans.
Instead, it was performed at the Arts and Industry Exhibition in 1882. It was planned to be presented in the square in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with canon (which were to be electrically coordinated to fire at the proper points in the score) and the pealing of the bells of the Cathedral and all the other bells of Moscow as elements which lead Tchaikowsky to describe it as "very loud and noisy, but [without] artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love."
However, the city leaders consulted engineers, apparently, who claimed that all the bells of Moscow pealing at the same time might lead to damage to buildings the equivalent of earthquake damage (or so the story goes), so the overture was performed indoors using "conventional orchestration."
Tchaikowsky performed the piece in the US, and although the only connection between the US and the overture (which describes Moscow fending off Napoleon) is that the US diverted England's attention from France enough that Napoleon was free to mount his attack on Russia. None-the-less, the piece is a staple of 4th-of-july celebrations. And for all of Tchaikowsky's complaint that it was noisy and written without love, the Overture contributed more to the wealth of his estate than any of his other works!