1812 Overture (Highlights)

By: Peter TCHAIKOVSKY
For: Concert band / wind band
page one of 1812 Overture (Highlights)

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Composer
Peter TCHAIKOVSKY
Year of composition
1882
Year of arrangement
2012
Difficulty
Difficult (Grades 7+)
Duration
5 minutes
Genre
Classical music
License details
For anything not permitted by the above licence then you should contact the publisher first to obtain permission.

The late Arthur Fiedler made the 1812 Overture an U. S. 4th of July (Independence Day) tradition by performing it on Boston’s Esplanade in 1974, complete with artillery. The Boston Pops concert was televised, so millions more saw and heard Tchaikovsky’s overture, perhaps not knowing it depicted Russia’s victory over Napoleon’s French army, not the U. S. victory over Britain. At any rate orchestras around the U. S. added the 1812 Overture to their 1975 Independence Day programs and have kept it there ever since.

Tchaikovsky disparaged the work as "very loud and noisy…but lacking artistic merit." While it certainly is loud, I must disagree with the composer’s assessment. Except for the too-long descending scale passage, this is effective, clear program music. I have cut the descending scale passage by about half without losing continuity.

This version contains the opening chorale and skips forward to the French anthem sequence (rehearsal N in my full version, rehearsal A here). If your audience is "just here for the fireworks," you might find this short version useful.

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