1812 overture by peter ilyich tchaikovsky. overture background 1880 czar alexander ii celebrating...
TRANSCRIPT
Overture Background•1880•Czar Alexander II celebrating his
25th anniversary on throne•Opening of the Moscow Arts and
Industry Exposition •Consecrating of the Cathedral
of Christ the Savior, being built to commemorate the Russian liberation from Napoleon's armies in 1812
Tchaikovsky’s Attitude•Not enthusiastic •He wrote,
–"Neither the jubilee of the eminent personage (for whom I have always had quite an antipathy) nor the church (which I don't like at all) offers anything that could inspire me."
I. God Preserve Thy People
• Somber tones of a Russian church chant– Recalling declaration of war
announced at Russian church • Followed by solemn
chant for Russian success
• Orchestral version has violas and cellos
III. God Preserve the Czar
•Russian people have purpose in fleeing
•Don’t fight
Alexander I
III. God Preserve the Czar (cont’d)
•Use scorched-earth policy–Destroyed crops –Burned buildings –Dumped dead animals into wells to poison them
–Destroyed bridges, signs, and roads to delay French
•Drew French deeper into Russian interior
V. La Marseillaise (cont’d)
•On June 12, 1812 Napoleon’s forces invaded Russia
•“Russia has been carried off by fate,” he said.
VI. Russian folk dances
• Slowed down• Russian people
would have recognized the melodies
• Russians in Smolensk Napoleon had not yet reached
VII.Strings with cannons
•Russians flee•Battle sounds in
background are louder•French captured well-
provisioned city of Smolensk in August
IX. Russian folk dances
•Russians in Borodino–Village on Dnieper River, less than 100 miles from Moscow
X. La Marseillaise
•Battle of Borodino–September 7, 1812–French forced Russians to retreat after fierce struggle
•Skip Moscow–Russian general
Kutusov reluctantly abandoned Moscow
to French–Pyrrhic victory
X. La Marseillaise (cont’d)
•Skip Moscow–Napoleon took a deserted Moscow•Waited in vain for
Czar to surrender•Ignored warnings about severity of Russian winter
•Lingered too long in illusion that surrender was imminent
X. La Marseillaise (cont’d)
XI. Strings•French fled•Snow slowed them •422,000 left
France in summer•40,000 left Russia in mid-Dec.
–Many of those then died of typhus
–10,000 returned to France•Napoleon fled to Paris to control
political “spin” on his “victory”
XII. God Preserve Thy People
•Swirling snow sound•God helped them win with
early, hard winter•God preserved His people
XIII. God Preserve the Czar
•God preserved His czar
Alexander I