Home > Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music > 1812 Overture

Concert overture by PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, 1882, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon's armies in Russia. Tchaikovsky wrote it for the consecration of the Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and the performance was given in the open air. The score included such special effects as a contingent of church bells and even cannon shots. The warring armies are represented by warring themes, the Russians by a national HYMN and the French by their ANTHEM, the MARSEILLAISE. The French defeat is represented by the repetition of the Marseille, wilting away in a minor key, and a triumphant rendition of the czarist anthem God Save the Czar.