Historical background: Napoleon's invasion of Russia (1874) On 7 September 1812, at
Borodino, west of Moscow,
Napoleon's forces met those of General
Mikhail Kutuzov in a concerted stand made by Russia against the seemingly invincible French Army. The
Battle of Borodino saw casualties estimated as high as 100,000 and the French were masters of the field. It was, however, ultimately a
pyrrhic victory for the French invasion. With resources depleted and supply lines overextended, Napoleon's weakened forces moved into Moscow, which they occupied with no delegation to receive the conquerors. Expecting a capitulation from
Tsar Alexander I, the French instead found themselves in a barren and desolate city. To make things worse, 48 hours after Napoleon's entry to the Russian city on 14 September 1812, three quarters of
Moscow was burned to the ground. Deprived of winter stores, Napoleon had to retreat. Beginning on 19 October and lasting well into December, the French Army faced several overwhelming obstacles on its long retreat:
famine,
typhus, freezing temperatures, harassing
cossacks, and Russian forces barring the way out of the country. Abandoned by Napoleon in November, the was reduced to one-tenth of its original size by the time it reached
Poland and relative safety. In 1869, the full edition of
War and Peace by
Leo Tolstoy was published. The novel reported a very accurate description of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, reviving memories of the Russian resistance. This led to the commissioning of new monuments, paintings and also of new musical compositions, including Tchaikovsky's.
Commission The
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned in 1812 by
Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, was nearing completion in Moscow in 1880; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II would be at hand in 1881; and the 1882 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition at Moscow was in the planning stage. Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor
Nikolai Rubinstein suggested that he write a grand commemorative piece for use in related festivities. Tchaikovsky began work on the project on 12 October 1880, finishing it six weeks later. Organizers planned to have the overture performed in the square before the cathedral, with a brass band to reinforce the orchestra, the bells of the cathedral, and all the others in downtown Moscow playing "
zvons" (pealing bells) on cueand cannons, fired from an electric switch panel to achieve the precision the musical score required. However, this performance did not take place, possibly due in part to the over-ambitious plan. Regardless, the
assassination of Alexander II that March deflated much of the impetus for the project. In 1882, during the All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition, the Overture was performed in a tent next to the unfinished cathedral. Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky complained to his patron
Nadezhda von Meck that he was "... not a conductor of festival pieces," and that the
Overture would be "... very loud and noisy, but [without] artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love." He put it together in six weeks. It is this work that would make the Tchaikovsky estate exceptionally wealthy, as it is one of the most performed and recorded works from his catalog. In Russia, during the
Soviet era, the imperial anthem was replaced with the chorus "
Glory, Glory to you, holy Rus'!" (
Славься, славься, святая Русь!), which came from the finale of
Mikhail Glinka's opéra
Ivan Susanin, a historical drama about a patriotic commoner of
the same name. The original version of the song, written by
Vasily Zhukovsky and
Egor Fyodorovich Rozen, praised the Tsar and the
Russian Tsardom, while the latter version by
Sergey Gorodetsky was one of a patriotic form and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial anthem of Russia in the 20th century and even today. With the
dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the
Cold War, the original score returned.
Adaptation in other contexts As a rousing patriotic hymn, the Overture has subsequently been adapted into and associated with other contexts than that of the Russian resistance to Napoleon's invasion. The
1812 Overture is popularly known in the United States as a symbol of the
United States Independence Day, a tradition that dates back to a 1974 choice made by
Arthur Fiedler for a performance at the
Boston Pops July 4th concert. An earlier outdoors July presentation in the U.S. was by the
National Symphony Orchestra, led by
Howard Mitchell, on 7 July 1950--incorporation eight 75mm Howitzers. According to the NSO's management, the performance celebrated the sesquicentennial of the relocation of America's capital from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. The piece was parodied by composer
Malcolm Arnold in
A Grand, Grand Overture which features four rifles, three
Hoover vacuum cleaners (two uprights in B♭ and one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electric floor polisher in E♭; it is dedicated to
President Hoover. The piece was also parodied by
P. D. Q. Bach for the 1989 musical album
1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults. ==Structure==