Monday, November 23, 2015

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015

QUOTE:
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
  flight to the imagination, and life to everything."
AUTHOR: Plato
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"Music can highlight everything you do in life."









COMPOSER:
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
1812 OVERTURE
THE FRENCH INVASION OF
RUSSIA BY NAPOLEON:
WAR OF 1812 
1812 OVERTURE
Version for:
Orchestra,  Choir, Organ,
 War Canons, and Bells
Conductor: Eugene Ormandy
New Philharmonia Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ZMpv9CnZk
TRANSLATION OF LYRICS
Some choral parts were originally introduced around 50 years
ago by Igor Buketoff at Eugene Ormandy's request after he
reconstructed Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, setting the
opening section for a cappella chorus, in the style of a Russian
Orthodox chant and the finale for chorus and orchestra.
He recorded this version with the New Philharmonia Orchestra.
(See video above)

Buketoff Lyrics
Lyrics at the conclusion
"God Preserve Thy People"
Grant salvation to Thy people, Lord,
and we pray Thee bless thine inheritance, O God.
Grant vict'ry to those who fight to save
our righteous faith and our dear sacred land
and from all evil deliver us.
Then the guardian of perfect grace,
the cross will forever be.
The cross will forever be.
The cross will forever be.

Lyrics at the conclusion
(measure 358)
"God Preserve Thy People/God Save the Tsar"
Grant salvation to Thy people, Lord,
and we pray Thee bless thine inheritance, O God.
Grant vict'ry to those who fight to save
 our righteous faith and our dear sacred land.
And we pray Thee bless thine inheritance,
 our dear sacred land, our sacred land.
God save our sacred land.
God grant us vict'ry, vict'ry against our foe!
God save our sacred land!
Give Us Peace!
1812 OVERTURE
CHORUS PART



1812 OVERTURE
Opening Scene:
Russian Hymn

The lyrics change somewhat
depending on who is performing it.
The following are some lyric variations:
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 fate
And glow bright in penitence
And be-e with me
O'er treacherous and cruel and grand unease
and to our land bring peace.
O mighty Lord hear our lowly prayer,
And by light, shinning holy light,
grant us oh Lord Peace again.
O mighty Lord hear our prayer
And save our people
Forever FOR-EV-ER
~OR~
Mighty Lord, preserve us from jeopardy.
Take thee now our faith
And our grinding penitence.
Grant thee vict'ry
o'er our treacherous and cruel enemies
And to our land bring peace.
Almighty Lord hear our lowly prayer,
And by thy shining Holy Light
When thou [sow], Lord, peace again.
Oh mighty Lord, hear our prayer
And save our kingdom
Forever, forever!
The destroyed church is on the left and the new church is on the right.
a building (taking over 40 years to complete)
was commissioned by Tsar Alexander I
Alexander I, Tsar of Russia
1777-1825
as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian
people after the War of 1812, was nearing
completion in Moscow and would be at hand
in 1881 to commemorate the 25th anniversary
of the coronation of Alexander II
Mihály Zichy:
Homage from the Imperial Family to Emperor Alexander II,
from the Coronation Book of Alexander II, 1856
and the 1882 Moscow Arts and Industry
Exhibition was in the planning stage.
A colorful postcard with the view from the highway on the exhibition
 pavilions at the All-Russian Industry and Arts Exhibition in Moscow 1882.
Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor
suggested that he write
a grand commemorative piece
for use in these (and other) related
festivities. Tchaikovsky began work
on the project on October 12, 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 ") on cue—

and cannons, fired from an electric

switch panel to achieve the precision
the musical score required. However, this
performance did not take place, possibly partly
due to the over-ambitious plan. Regardless,

that March deflated much of the impetus

for the project. In 1882, during the Arts
and Industry Exhibition, the Overture was
performed in a tent next to the un-
finished cathedral. The cathedral
was completed on May 26, 1883.
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,"
adding himself to the legion of artists who have
castigated their own work. 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.
Tchaikovsky cranked out the 1812 Overture in
six weeks, cutting his imagination loose with
every note and theme designed to tug at Russian
heartstrings. And although the most celebrated
section of the work is inevitably Tchaikovsky's
flamboyant, proto-cinematic finale, its opening
passage is equally spectacular – albeit
spectacularly understated.
NEW YORK DEBUT

In the spring of 1891, Peter Tchaikovsky
made his first and only trip to America
(New York City) to appear at the opening
series for a new venue financed by
industrialist Andrew Carnegie
A poster advertising the five-day festival celebrating the opening of Carnegie Hall, in May 1891, with Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky at top.In the spring of 1891, at the time of his first and only trip to the U.S., Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky . In New York, he recorded his delight at the warm reception he received.The 50-year-old composer, had been invited to lead the New York Symphony at the opening series for a new venue financed by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, then simply called Music Hall.Carnegie
Opening of Carnegie Hall, in May 1891, with Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
After conductor Walter Damrosch
Walter Damrosch, 1889
Andrew Carnegie, 1896
to build what would become the famed
Music Hall (renamed Carnegie Hall in 1894),
he needed a big name draw for the Hall's opening
Tchaikovsky once noted that
"people in the United States know my work
 better than they do in Russia, in my own home."
The Russian composer's
1812 Overture debuted in 1882,
and he conducted
the composition for the debut of
Carnegie's Music Hall in 1891.
Adolph Northen: Napoleon's Withdrawal from Russia
1812 OVERTURE
(another version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BbT0E990IQ
PARODIES TO THE 1812
ORCHESTRA TUNE
There was an emperor Napoleon
Who never saw a nickelodean
And if he had there'd have to be
A little change in history.

Instead of marching off to fight his war
Napoleon would rule the ballroom floor
He'd never meet the Duke of Wellington
If he had heard the Duke of Ellington.
(1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky)
The crowds were cheering at the concert hall

The night Tchaikovsky shot a cannonball

It was the loudest cannon that you'll ever hear

It was so loud it even shook the chandelier

The crowds were cheering for a curtain call

The night Tchaikovsky shot a cannonball

The drum and bugle player jumped up on a seat

They hoped and prayed it wouldn't fall down on their feet

Trumpets were blaring,

everyone staring

Critics declaring, "daring, daring!"
Then it exploded!

Boy it was loaded!

What a crash it stopped the show

It landed in the seventh row

Tchaikovsky's cannonball

Blew up the concert hall

But everyone could see

The guy made history

That the great Tchaikovsky's cannonball

That’s all!


1812 OVERTURE

The 1812 Overture 
1. Tchaikovsky opens the 1812 Overture with what?
2. What does Tchaikovsky do to remind people of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812?
3. What other theme does Tchaikovsky weave into the music, along with the French theme?
4. Tchaikovsky inserts what sound effects and what songs iat the climax of the music?
5. What military power did the U.S. fight against about 55-60 years ago?
6. Imagine you are to compose a piece of music commemorating this war. 
 What familiar hymn would you start with?
7. What melodies might remind us of the powers we fought against 55-60 years ago?
8. What American folk tunes could you weave into the music?
9. What melodies would create the climax of your piece?
LINKS
http://www.hymn.ru/god-save-in-tchaikovsky/index-en.html
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2012/01/5168833/
tchaikovskys-bible-archivist-finds-door-new-yorks-distant-past
http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=21629.0;imode

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