Overture 1812 Op.49 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's and the Battle of Borodino
Written in the year 1880 and premiered on August 20, 1882, the Overture 1812 Op.49 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840 - 1893) is a nationalist and programmatic work. Composed to commemorate Russia's defense against the invasion of Napoleon's "Grande Armée" in 1812.
His first audition under the regency of Ippolit Al'tani was held in the open air near the then unfinished Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was also built in memory of the defense of 1812, and would be inaugurated on May 26, 1883, by Czar Alexander III in city of Moscow.
In 1812 the armies of Napoleon who had invaded Russia, were the gates of Moscow. Czar Alexandre decided not to give more ground and put his army to little more than 100 kms of the capital. More than 100,000 men and 600 cannons confronted French troops in the famous "Battle of Borodino".
The Russians lost the battle, but they caused so many casualties in the enemy army, that along with other factors, forced Napoleon to withdraw.
The music begins with the strings performing a Byzantine melody of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, known in the West as "O Lord, Save Thy People", from this moment the piece goes through a mix of pastoral and martial themes depicting the increased anguish of the Russian people in the hands of the invaders.
After the first minute and a half, the mood begins to change. We began to hear the winds, answered by the strings imitatively. The melody suddenly collapses with a boom of the eardrums, into the oboe solo entrance in increasing tension in counterpoint with the orchestra. The tension increases before falling into the dynamic elevation punctuated by the plates. With about four minutes the motive that represents the Russian army enters. This melody is repeated a few times until we hear the theme of "La Marseillaise", which represents the advance of the French army to five minutes and fifty seconds of the course of the work.
Still in the course of the play we can hear another reference that the composer makes another song, at eight and a half minutes we can hear the song "U Vorot, Vorot". Executed by the woods in "Opening 1812", followed by references to "La Marseillaise".
After increasing tension in the passages that refer to "La Marseillaise", a melody is introduced that takes us to a reprise "U Vorot, Vorot". and passages of the advance of the French troops represented by "La Marseillaise". After these passages we heard one of the most famous moments of this work of Tchaikovsky, the cannon shots that the composer indicated in the score, to the twelve minutes the first five shots.
Another peculiarity of this piece, is the sounds of the bells introduced at the end of the orchestral decrescendo after the cannon shots. In sequence, we hear once again the triumphant theme of the Russian army, plus eleven gunshots until the end of the work, and an reference of the song "Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!" (God Save Ksar).
Over the past 40 years, "Opening 1812" is consistently held at the United States Independence Day celebrations, largely due to an exciting performance of the 1974 Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler.
There is a transcription by the American maestro Igor Buketoff, in which some additions were made, available below under the regency of Zubin Metta.
In this version, the song "Lord, Save Thy People" is sung a cappella by a choir instead of strings. A choir of children or women is added to the flute and interpretation of a duet in English, on music "U Vorot, Vorot ". In the end, the orchestra and choir come together in climax with a triumphant version of "Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!" (God Save the Ksar).
A great hug
Guilherme Faquetti
February 16, 2018
References
http://www.culturaclassica.com.br/abertura-1812-de-tchaikovsky-os-canhoes-na-batalha-de-borodino/
https://www.thoughtco.com/tchaikovskys-1812-overture-724401
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abertura_1812
http://imslp.org/wiki/1812_Overture,Op.49(Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr)
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That little guy was ruthless but Russia has always been a Country with strong people I mean look how big that Country is that shows that right there
Of course, what intrigued me most was the ability of Tchaikovsky to perpetuate this history through art. A function of music in which I have great appreciation