The right reasons for canceling the 1812 Overture

The San Diego Symphony has canceled Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture for the final concert of their summer season. They are replacing it with Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture.

Here is the complete statement from The Symphony:

“While this program has been a regular of San Diego Symphony summer seasons past, with the ongoing Russian war that threatens the people of Ukraine, who – as we speak – are fighting for their very lives, we feel that it is important to amend this program. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture was commissioned and written to celebrate a Russian military victory and includes the sounds of battle and violent artillery.

"The San Diego Symphony highly respects the work of Russian composers and intends to carry that legacy on through our musical performances, as is evidenced by the new program listed above. But, we strongly feel that this summer is not the time in which we should perform the 1812 Overture.

"We join the many millions across the world who wholeheartedly support Ukraine and its people in one of the darkest hours of their history and carry hope that this war will end soon.”

Let’s dig into this just a little bit. The 1812 Overture or, to give it its official title, The Year 1812, a Festive Overture, was not commissioned to celebrate a Russian military victory. It was, quite famously, commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 1880. The cathedral had been commissioned in 1812 by Tsar Alexander I to acknowledge the hand of divine providence in delivering Russia from the invading Napoleon.

The music begins with the Eastern Orthodox hymn “O Lord, Save thy People.” The hymn makes a grand appearance at the climax of the piece and then transitions into “God Save the Tsar.” These hymns go with the occasion of a cathedral being dedicated.

Tchaikovsky does depict the battle of Borodino in which the French forces were victorious. Allow me to repeat that. The French forces were victorious. However, the battle led to Napoleon's army being engulfed and destroyed by the Russian winter.

The cannons at the end (the “violent artillery” mentioned in the Symphony’s statement) were included as a representation of victory along with the ringing of bells representing the church bells being rung in celebration. The cannons were not included as a representation of violence. The 1812 Overture was written 68 years after the fact.

Do I oppose having the 1812 Overture replaced? I do not. My opinion of the piece tends to agree with that of Tchaikovsky himself who said that it was “without artistic merit.”

Superimposing current politics onto the past is a disingenuous practice on the whole. A much more fair and poignant statement might have gone something like this:

“Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture uses the sounds of cannons, which are a very real thing in Ukraine at this time. As Tchaikovsky’s music celebrates the defeat of an invading army, it is our hope that the Ukrainian people celebrate the defeat of an invading army. We perform Tchaikovsky’s music in the hopes that victory comes soon to the people of Ukraine and that peace is restored.”