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1812 Overture
Sign in to saveAlso known as The Year 1812 Solemn Overture, The Year 1812
1880 concert overture by Tchaikovsky
Key facts
- Key
- E ♭ major
- Occasion
- Commemoration of the 1812 Russian defense against Napoleon 's invading Grande Armée
- Composed
- 1880 ( 1880 )
- Date
- 20 August 1882 ; 143 years ago ( 1882-08-20 )
- Location
- Moscow
- Conductor
- Ippolit Al'tani
via Wikipedia infobox
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Year 1812, Solemn Overture, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture, is a concert overture in E♭ major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The piece commemorates Russia's successful defence against the French invasion of the nation in 1812.
Written in just 6 weeks the Overture's first public performance, conducted by Ippolit Al'tani, took place in Moscow on 20 August [O.S. 8 August] 1882, under a tent, near the still unfinished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which also memorialised the 1812 defence of Russia.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “1812 Overture” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.