1812 Overture

  Well, this was different. In all the years I have been watching / recording the Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade in Boston I don't remember this happening.

Just as the local news was getting ready to go national with the concert and then fireworks - starting with the 1812 Overture of course - the first shot you see is of empty seats and lawn areas. The Massachusetts Police evacuated everyone from both sides of the river and told people to seek shelter.

I knew there were thunder storms moving through the area as I had been seeing flashes and hearing the rumblings for the past half hour or so - I just didn't realize how strong they were. Seems as they headed into Boston the winds were picking up and the lightening was getting stronger and more frequent.

Ah well ... the delay let me do a little bit of research on this iconic piece of music which has become such a staple especially here in Boston.

This is what I learned:

The "1812 Overture" may be an American tradition, with its patriotic strains and thunderous battery. But while orchestras across the land, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra tonight at Point State Park, will perform it with clanging bells and cannon fire, the music could hardly be any more distant from the Stars and Stripes.

That's because the overture, written by famed composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, depicts Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1812, not America's battles against the British, as many might think.

That's right -- at the height of most Independence Day ceremonies, Memorial Day pageantry or other fireworks displays, the "1812 Overture" blares strains of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise" and the old Russian national anthem "God Save the Czar "across our amber waves of grain. But this bizarre twist is not as unpatriotic as it might seem.

The obvious reason why the piece found a home during America's annual firecracker festival is that gunpowder loves company. "It is one of the few pieces with good musical content that has cannons exploding," says Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and a conductor and music scholar who has written about Tchaikovsky.

The "1812 Overture" premiered in 1882 at the consecration of a church in Moscow commemorating Napoleon's retreat from Russia. Telling the story of the end of the French invasion of Russia in musical themes, "La Marseillaise" is eventually beaten back by a rousing Russian anthem and cannon fire and church bells. When performed with full-scale replica artillery (with blanks) today, the "1812 Overture" usually requires musicians to wear earplugs.

"It is the one piece of classical music that includes 'The Bombs Bursting in Air,'" says Deane Root, a music professor at the University of Pittsburgh and director of its Center for American Music.

But can the popularity of the piece be tied only to cannon fire? Bard's Botstein, for one, feels that although Tchaikovsky disparaged the "1812 Overture" as "very loud and noisy," the music should be given more credit: "Tchaikovsky knew how to write a barn-burner, and they are really hard to write."
Tchaikovsky's popularity in America also played a role. "Tchaikovsky had a foothold in the late 19th century in the broadening public taste for classical music," says Botstein. "He came to open Carnegie Hall in 1891 and was a kind of pop figure when he arrived in the United States."

While America was developing an affinity for Tchaikovsky, it was not having much success creating patriotic music of its own.

"With the exception of 'America the Beautiful,' the U.S. is short of patriotic hymns," says Botstein. "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is a tongue-twister; then you have 'America,' which is really the British national anthem. Being an immigrant nation, we are not offended by using another country's national anthem." These developments set the stage for the Russian overture's remarkable transformation in America in the midst of the Cold War.

Though some ensembles had played the "1812 Overture" earlier -- Chicago's Grant Park Orchestra performed it on Independence Day 1935 -- most had done so only sporadically before the '70s. The PSO, for one, played it only four times prior to that decade. In 1974, however, the "1812 Overture" came into its own as a pan-American tradition.

That July 4, famed Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler decided to perform the overture with fireworks, real cannons and a coordinated steeple-bell choir to increase attendance at the Pops' summer concerts on the Esplanade, says Bridget Carr, archivist of the Boston Symphony.

Also, the nation's bicentennial was around the corner and the desire to have a spectacular show outweighed Cold War conniptions.

"He was a good musician but the ultimate showman," says PSO clarinetist Thomas Thompson, who toured with Fiedler in 1962. "Audiences loved him, and he was a genius at marketing."

A massive, celebratory outdoor piece pushed by the nation's premier outdoor orchestra, whose July 4 concert was broadcast across the country, captured the public's imagination. Countless orchestras began performing the work outdoors, quickly solidifying the tradition and the piece's connection to American patriotism.

So, while its roots lie in a conflict continents away and its purpose was to fete Russian superiority, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is now as American as apple pie.

By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic


I then wondered about the choral portion of this performance as the Pops usually have singers accompanying them during their performance.

THAT seemed to be a more difficult question to answer.

Tchaikovsky did not write any lyrics - the piece was instrumental only. However as the piece became more popular several versions and attributions have been made as to the source of lyrics set to the music.

One version is said to be a prayer written by Tsar Alexander I - who was only a boy of 13 in 1815:

(Key Eb major - The Tsar Alexander I is praying)
"Holy Father, I implore thee, hear my prayer.
From the lies of evil men, Lord deliver me.
O hear me; in my distress I cry unto thee, Lord, that thou might answer me.
I have dwelt among my enemies.
And have ever made my plea for peace with those who would peace destroy. (bar 23 - woodwind)
My earnest desire is peace. But when I speak, my foes all call for war (43 bars orch)

Alleluia, praise unto the God of hosts.
Praise, O praise the Lord in his mighty firmament (bells)
O praise him: for God takes pleasure in his people and adorns the meek with victory (bells)
This then is the glory for all his faithful people, Praise, O praise the Lord. (Key change to C major)

Father omnipotent, (Guns) God of all ages, Let all creation praise his holy name, (Hymn tune: Russia)
Praise, O praise the Lord, Praise the Lord (x 7)" (Band, orch, bells, canons, lasers, rockets, fireworks!!)


Some sources suggest the words are either the old Imperial Russian National Anthem or "God the all-terrible King" which is an old English hymn based on the hymn "God the Omnipotent" from the Hyms Ancient and Modern from the Church of England.

Two of the more common sets of lyrics I found include:

Mighty Lord, preserve us from jeopardy.
Take Thee now our faith and loud crying in penitence.
Grant victory o'er our treacherous and cruel enemies
And to our land bring peace.
O mighty Lord hear our lowly prayer,
And by Thy shining holy light.
Grant us, O Lord, peace again.
O mighty Lord hear our prayer
And save our people
Forever, forever!

OR

"Mighty Lord, preserve us from jeopardy.
Take thee now our faith and love, thine inheritance
Grant vict'ry o'er our treacherous and cruel enemies,
And to our land bring peace.
O Mighty Lord, hear our lowly prayer,
And by Thy shining, holy light
Grant us, oh Lord, peace again.
O Mighty Lord hear our prayer and save our people.
Forever, forever. Amen."

Either way - it has become one of our country's "anthems". And for me it doesn't really feel like the Fourth of July until I have heard the Boston Pops play it with the National Guard cannons.