1812 Overture

I know it's weird to have me write about a classical piece, considering how much I like jazz, rock, pop and the like. Still, I've been listening to 1812 Overture, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a lot and feel the need to write a bit about it in case you have not heard about this song. Maybe I tried to listen too much into this song but hey, I find it kinda cool.

Imagine this, the song starts out slow and then it will go higher and higher as if it's going to reach it's climax. Just when you thought the song starts to pick up its pace,it will begin to slow down and 'decend'. And suddenly, out of nowhere just when you think the song is going to end and sound draggy, it goes batshit insane. Not just any batshit insane kind of insane but rather almost a victorious sounding and triumphant kind of insane. You know, like when they have won the war, which is true in this case.

Also, have I mentioned that this is actually one of the few songs(less than 10 in the history of music) that requires cannons? That's right. In case you didn't read it properly, IT REQUIRES CANNONS. 16 shots are written into this song with 5 shots in the middle and the other 11 towards the end. I thought Jaco's big band was crazy enough but to have cannons written into a song is simply all kinds of awesome.

So, I decided to look up Wikipedia regarding this song and true enough this was written by Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate the turning point of the Napoleonic War at the Battle of Borodino at the year.... 1812.

Basically, the whole song is structured in such a way to portray how the Russians struggled against the French/Napoleon army. Hence, the draggy and slow intro of the song and slowly as it approaches the Battle of Borodino, which is the turning point of the war, the song picks up. Although it's still a little draggy but you can hear that it's going higher and at the right moment, everything break loose and the song became... 1812 Overture.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia on the structure of the song. It will explain a couple of things in the song and hopefully will help you to appreciate this song even more:

Sixteen cannon shots are written into the score of the Overture. Beginning with the plaintive hymn "God Preserve Thy People", which was the old Czarist Russian National Anthem, the piece moves through a mixture of pastoral and militant themes portraying the increasing distress of the Russian people at the hands of the invading French. At the turning point of the invasion—the Battle of Borodino—the score calls for five Russian cannon shots confronting a boastfully repetitive fragment of the Marseillaise. A descending string passage represents the subsequent attrition of the French forces, followed by victory bells and a triumphant repetition of "God Preserve Thy People" as Moscow burns to deny winter quarters to the French. A musical chase scene appears, out of which emerges the anthem "God Save the Tsar!," thundering with eleven more precisely scored shots.

Like all classical pieces, there are many different recordings of this song. In fact, rumours say that Tchaikovsky himself may not have heard this piece as it is written! So, Antal Dorati came along and decided to record this piece AS IT IS WRITTEN for Mercury Records. Wikipedia says:

Dorati uses an actual Carillon called for in the score and they are rung about as close to a zvon then known. The art of Zvon ringing was almost lost due to the Russian Revolution and the atheistic beliefs of the communists. The Dorati recording also uses actual period French Cannon for the 1812 period which belonged to West Point US Military College.

One thing to note about the Carillon is that it is so rare that only a handful of classical pieces uses the Carillon bells. Now, imagine how difficult it is to get the zvon.

Fortunately for all of us, the recording of 1812 Overture by Antal Dorati can be found on YouTube. Yup, with cannons and everything. 1812 Overture starts at 2:44. So, you can fast forward till there if you want to just listen to the song:



If you think I'm kidding about the cannon part, check out the performance of this song by the Eastern Army Corps musical band of the Japan Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF) using 105mm cannons. Fast forward till 5:03 for the song and the hawt cannon action:



Enough talking and hopefully what I have written is enough to give you an idea and also allow you to enjoy this as much as I did.



(References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture)