The 1812 Overture is a piece for orchestra by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It tells the story of the year 1812, when the French army under Napoleon marched into Russia and was driven back. Tchaikovsky wrote it in 1880. It lasts about 15 minutes, and it ends with church bells and real cannon fire. For a child, the last four minutes are the place to start.
It is one of the loudest pieces in the concert hall. Warn a child who is bothered by loud sounds.
Quick facts
- Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, from Russia
- Written: 1880
- First played: 1882, in Moscow
- Length: about 15 minutes
- Listen for: a hymn, a French tune, bells, and cannons
The story in the music
The prayer. The piece opens with a slow, solemn hymn played by cellos and violas alone. The Russian people pray as the enemy comes near.
The alarm. The mood tightens. Drums tap, and the army gathers.
The battle. Fast, jagged music breaks out. Listen for a bold tune on the horns and trumpets. It is the French national song, and it stands for Napoleon’s army. Each time it appears, the French are winning.
Home. Between the battles, the music turns to gentle tunes from Russian folk songs. These stand for the land and the people.
The battle again. The French tune returns, louder. The fight is at its worst.
The turn. A long, tumbling run of notes falls down through the whole orchestra. The French army is in retreat.
Victory. The opening hymn comes back, loud and broad, with all the bells of Moscow ringing. Then the cannons fire, and the orchestra races to the end with a Russian anthem booming in the brass.
The cannons and the bells
Tchaikovsky wrote cannon shots into the music, and he marked the exact beats where they fire. He also asked for church bells.
Indoors, an orchestra often uses a huge bass drum in place of cannons. At outdoor concerts, real cannons are sometimes fired. In the United States, the piece is a tradition at Fourth of July concerts with fireworks, even though it has nothing to do with American history.
What Tchaikovsky thought of it
He wrote the piece on request, for a big public event, and he did not think much of it. He told a friend that it was loud and noisy and written without much love. Audiences have never agreed with him.
What to listen for
Two sides. The French tune is bold and brassy. The Russian tunes are the hymn and the folk songs. Ask your child to raise one hand for France and the other for Russia.
Who is winning? When the French tune is loud, they are ahead. When it breaks into pieces, they are losing.
The long fall. Near the end, the strings rush downward for what seems like forever. Trace the fall in the air with a hand.
Count the cannons. Count each boom in the last section.
Things to do together
Start at the end. Play the last four minutes. Stand tall for the hymn, ring pretend bells, and stamp on each cannon shot.
Two flags. Make two paper flags. Wave one for each side as its music plays.
Loud map. Draw a line across a long strip of paper as the piece plays. Keep it low when the music is soft and high when it is loud. The cannons go off the top.
March. March to the battle music and tiptoe to the folk tunes.
Find 1812. Tchaikovsky was not born until 1840. Look at the composer timeline to see which composers were alive in 1812.
Words to know
Overture. Most overtures open an opera or a play. This one stands alone. It is a concert piece that tells its own story.
Fortissimo. Louder than loud. Dynamics in music for kids has the other words.
Print and play
Read Tchaikovsky for kids and print the Tchaikovsky fact sheet. To learn about the drums and bells, read percussion instruments for kids. For more music that tells a tale, see classical music that tells a story.
More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.