Sending up an 1812 salute to Tchaikovsky’s singular gift for sonic fireworks

It doesn’t happen often, but a few of the world’s creations manage to attain not just widespread recognition but also practically universal acclaim. To name a few examples in a few different categories: the Great Pyramid and the Eiffel Tower; Michelangelo’s David and van Gogh’s Starry Night; Spider-Man and Cookie Monster. And of course, from the world of classical music, the gallant 1812 Overture, complete with its stirring brass, cathedral bells and now-iconic climactic cannon fire.

Of course, some people can find fault with anything. One such naysayer famously decried the overture’s 15 majestic minutes, dismissing it as “very loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit, obviously written without warmth or love.” The kicker? The person making that acid-tongued assertion was none other than the composer himself, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ouch!

Yet neither that savage self-criticism nor Tchaikovsky’s Russian identity have arrested the music’s remarkable popularity in North America. Commissioned to celebrate the victory of Tsar Alexander’s military over Napoleon’s invading army in Moscow, the overture has only grown in stature in the 140 years since its premiere. Indeed, its fame began to accelerate in the latter half of the 20th century.

One of the most recognizable pieces of music ever composed, it’s been incorporated endlessly into modern-day pop culture and even used to sell breakfast cereal in a ’60s commercial. 

But some people can’t abide anything popular, and apparently Tchaikovsky was one of them.“He wound up not liking the piece very much,” said Emil de Cou, who will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Aug. 21 in a performance featuring the overture (along with three other pieces) for the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular.

“He resented the popularity of the 1812 Overture, and he also resented the popularity of The Nutcracker. He considered it trashy. But 1812 is still good. It rocks. It explodes!” de Cou said with a chuckle.

“He had the greatest gifts — of melody, primarily, and harmony, secondarily. His inventiveness was his unbelievable wealth of melody.” — Emil de Cou on Tchaikovsky

What’s the secret to Tchaikovsky’s earworms? It’s not just 1812 Overture and The Nutcracker; he wrote so much music, including still-famous scores to several other ballets, including Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. How did he do it, time and again?

“He had the greatest gifts — of melody, primarily, and harmony, secondarily,” de Cou said. “He didn’t invent anything, like Wagner or Berlioz; he wasn’t like Beethoven, who would invent a new version of symphonies. He was a very mainstream composer — but his inventiveness was his unbelievable wealth of melody. Not just a tune you could whistle, but a tune that’s informed by the harmonies and becomes usually quite melancholy.”

That pensive element adds depth to his joyful music. And de Cou sees connections between key elements of the composer’s identity and the complex art he created. Tchaikovsky was gay and also struggled with depression. “You don’t have to read too much into that, but you can’t dismiss it, just like you can’t dismiss that Beethoven was deaf. These things profoundly affect you as a person and as a musician," he said. With Tchaikovsky, there’s always a slight sense of melancholy, even underneath the happy melodies, and I think that resonates.”

Another way Tchaikovsky demonstrated his remarkable talents is through his smartly paced use of motifs. “He did it better than most. Everything’s in the score for a reason,” de Cou said. “You know, whispering something at the beginning, which becomes a shout at the end. It’s all amazingly placed to manipulate and thrill us. That’s why he’s so extraordinarily popular after all these years, when many other composers who were equally famous in his lifetime are forgotten.”

This summer’s Tchaikovsky Spectacular marks a milestone for CSO bassoon Dennis Michel, who will retire from the CSO after the performance. (Having played the overture with five different orchestras over the course of his career, it’s an appropriate bookend.)

Given the deadly war of aggression that Russia launched against Ukraine in February, orchestras around the world (and their audiences) have been questioning whether it’s appropriate, in 2022, to perform Russian music — particularly this signature Tchaikovsky piece, given that it celebrates a wartime victory. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, and the Cleveland Orchestra have all recently abandoned plans to perform the 1812 Overture.

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot,” Michel said. “Is it an appropriate time to play a piece that is basically a hymn to Russian nationalism? But in the situation that it celebrates, the roles were reversed: Russia was being attacked by Napoleon’s forces and defended its sovereignty, as opposed to the war now, where Russia is occupying another country. So it was a very different time and a very different war. I don’t think we can condemn this piece of music because of circumstances now.”

Again, Tchaikovsky’s life story brings extra dimensions to the complicated debate. “A lot of people don’t know that his family was Ukrainian originally,” de Cou said. Just a few generations back, the paternal surname was Chayka, which is Ukrainian for “seagull.” But when the family moved east, they Russified their name, going from Chayka to Chaykovsky. So it’s no surprise, de Cou pointed out, that the musical titan always had very strong ties to his ancestral home. 

“He loved the Ukrainian people,” de Cou said. “He was often at his sister’s house outside of Kyiv. One of his later operas premiered at the opera house in Kyiv. He had a home in Ukraine that was turned into a museum and children’s music school that was [recently] bombed and destroyed. 

“Tchaikovsky would undoubtedly loathe this murderous criminal in Moscow,” de Cou said. “I look at the end of the 1812 Overture not as the cannons defeating Napoleon, but as the Ukrainians defeating this monster. Hopefully this horrible, senseless war will come to a rapid end, and Ukrainian people can live in democracy and peace.” 

Excerpted with permission from Ravinia Magazine