1812 Overture

dwil9798 · Post by **dwil9798** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:35 pm

Why is the non-typeset version of this work on IMSLP different from every recording I've heard? Is it a new publication? Can I request the original version non-typeset? Thanks.

Website · Post by **vinteuil** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:35 am

Which part? This version seems like the original to me excepting "God Save the Tsar."

Website · Post by **vinteuil** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:37 am

Also, why specifically the non-typeset version. They are identcial but for the aformentioned.

horndude77 · Post by **horndude77** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:06 am

I assume he means that he prefers scans to computer generated scores. In the end everything is typeset that's not handwritten anyway.

dwil9798 · Post by **dwil9798** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:22 pm

Sorry, I didn't specify what I meant. I don't always like the computer generated works because they can be innacurate; also, my question should have been: What happened to 'God Save the Tsar' in the first file on the site? Thanks

Website · Post by **vinteuil** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:25 pm

It was censored by the Communist government (of which this is a publication) There should be an info box on the page.

Post by **Davydov** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:28 pm

dwil9798 wrote:Sorry, I didn't specify what I meant. I don't always like the computer generated works because they can be innacurate; also, my question should have been: What happened to 'God Save the Tsar' in the first file on the site? Thanks

Well... performing "God Save the Tsar" during Soviet times was rather frowned upon? That's why contemporary editions of 1812, and other works quoting from the anthem (e.g. Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March"), usually cut it out completely or substituted different music.

The site could really do with a scan of the original Jurgenson edition, or one reprinted outside the USSR without any alterations. In the absence of that, I posted the typeset version taken (with permission) from www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Post by **daphnis** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:17 pm

If you can provide me with more precise info., such as possible date, page count and perhaps plate I could probably get my hands on such an edition.

Post by **Davydov** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:40 pm

daphnis wrote:If you can provide me with more precise info., such as possible date, page count and perhaps plate I could probably get my hands on such an edition.

Thanks for the offer. The first edition of the full score was published by P. Jurgenson in Moscow in 1882 (75 pages, plate no. 4592), with the title in Russian and French -- 1812. Torzhestvennaia uvertiura dlia bol'shago orkestra, sochineniie po sluchaiu osviashcheniia khrama Spasiatelia = 1812. Ouverture solennelle composée pour grand orchestre à l'occasion de l'inauguration de la cathedrale du Saint-Sauveur à Moscou.

I understand that Rahter in Leipzig reprinted Jurgenson's edition, and that Eulenburg may in turn have reprinted Rahter's score around 1911.

Any help you can provide would be very welcome!

Post by **daphnis** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:47 pm

Thanks. I can probably place my hands on this. I'll keep you posted.

Post by **Carolus** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:53 pm

Breitkopf & Härtel issued a score as part of their Orchester-Bibliothek around 1920. It was edited by a conductor named Fritz Hoffmann. The Eulenburg score was probably - but not necessarily - a new engraving, possibly first done by Payne or Donajowski (who were absorbed by Eulenburg) in the 1880s or early 1890s.

In addition to Rahter, the original Jurgenson score was probably reprinted by Muzgiz in the 1920s or 1930s. The Eulenburg was in turn reprinted by Kalmus and Boosey and Hawkes (Hawkes Pocket Scores). Kalmus (Florida) reprints the Breitkopf full score presently.

Post by **daphnis** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:23 pm

Davydov, I received the first edition score you mentioned in good condition and will scan and upload when I can.

Website · Post by **vinteuil** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:59 pm

Davydov wrote: Well... performing "God Save the Tsar" during Soviet times was rather frowned upon? That's why contemporary editions of 1812, and other works quoting from the anthem (e.g. Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March"), usually cut it out completely or substituted different music.

I'm pretty sure that praising the Tsars would have been frowned upon by the communist government, having overthrown them.

Post by **Davydov** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:58 pm

Hmm... In the text quoted by Perlnerd666 I meant to put an exclamation mark rather than the question mark that actually appeared, resulting in confusion rather than the mild amusement intended.

Anyway, I'm very grateful to Daphnis for taking the trouble to track down the first edition, and it will be hugely beneficial to have the scan on IMSLP.

Thanks again Daphnis!

Lyle Neff · Post by **Lyle Neff** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:28 am

perlnerd666 wrote:
Davydov wrote:Well... performing "God Save the Tsar" during Soviet times was rather frowned upon? That's why contemporary editions of 1812, and other works quoting from the anthem (e.g. Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March"), usually cut it out completely or substituted different music.
I'm pretty sure that praising the Tsars would have been frowned upon by the communist government, having overthrown them.

In relation to that, Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar was possibly the biggest hurdle for the Soviets, not so much because of the music, but because of the libretto. It had been a popular staple at the opera house, traditionally opening every season in pre-Soviet days. It was easy enough to simply revert to Glinka's original title for the work, Ivan Susanin, but the sung text is full of references to the tsar. Eventually in the 1930s, I believe, the Soviet poet Gorodetsky came up with a substitute libretto that became the Soviet standard.

The irony about the politically correct Soviet edition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 is that the rewriting of the ending (by Shebalin, I believe), replaces the tsarist national anthem with the primary tune of the final chorus of A Life for the Tsar, the original text of which mentions the tsar three times in the first four lines:

Славься, славься, святая Русь!
Празднуй торжественный день Царя,
Ликуй, веселися: твой Царь грядет.
Царя-Государя встречает народ!