1812 - How long since you've played the entire piece?

[bloke]

I mentioned this as an aside in the "Repairs" forum...but I'm wondering if this might (??) be interesting enough to describe in detail in the main forum...??

Every year now (for well over 15 years...closer to 20), I've performed this piece (outdoors, of course) adjacent to a REAL carillon tower and a couple of cannons (Howitzers...?? ...I never went over to look them over). Of course (being "old"), I've played it MANY times prior to that, as well.

Like most everywhere else, we began the piece about 2/3rd of the way through (snare drum ruffs and French horns), and - once played to the end - then play Stars & Stripes in D (ok on C tuba, and interesting - now - on B-flat) with a fireworks show.

This is just about how it goes with you as well, yes...(??) whether you are in a band or an orchestra.

Back thirty-to-nearly-fifty years ago - when I was in my late teens to mid-thirties (longer attendee attention spans...??, and - seemingly - less urgency to fit in one or two more pops/rock/country guest singer tunes before the grand finale) we would always play the entire 1812 Overture...but (even then) we could sense that the first parts were only serving as "background music" for blanket and lawn chair-sitting chitchat.

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...so I'm playing an unusual little "city concert" tonight at 7:30...
It's one of these trendy "off-location" short wrong-night-of-the-week concerts (for the downtown-dwellers and monied/aging hipsters, etc.)

The music director is going to do about a 35-minute lecture on the commissioning/composing of the Overture, along with identifying all the significant-at-that-time/place tunes in it - with Powerpoint...and there will be more Powerpoint behind us (with pieces and translated-to-English lyrics of the songs in it - as we're playing them.

Of course, the bass drum will do the cannon cues, but there are also some large speakers in there and a decent-enough cannon-sound - by which the Assistant Music Director will be "firing" up in the control booth.

It's also a reduced orchestration. (40...?? fewer...??)

one trombone and a tuba, as an example. He's covering some bass/second 'bone, and I'm covering a bit of it as well...two horns, two trumpets, etc.

It's in a venue designed (multi-purpose, but) mostly as a "little theater" type of venue.

The sound is VERY "dead", but absolutely EVERYTHING can be heard (at least, by me) that occurs on-stage.
btw..."dead" is perfectly fine with me. I'm well accustomed to creating my own "fake" decays (etc.) - even after very short sounds (if appropriate), and "dead" (at least, to me) = control and more likelihood of time (and even tuning) precision.

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Anyway...
This is an unusual event, and a chance (after so very many years) to play the entire piece.

Musicians and critics tend to roll their eyes, and point out "This was a commission, and Tchaikovsky wrote it in only four weeks"...but (hey!) how much time did John Williams take writing each of those movie scores, how much advance notice did he have, and (if professional/successful composers) who do NOT write for commissions...??

To me, it's a whole lot better piece than many in the standard rep...It's just that most of the standard rep. does not include a carillon tower a cannons. Just because a piece is played too often (and - these days - with the most poignant parts omitted - parts which had a tremendous emotional impact on the Russians who first heard it) doesn't mean that it's "trite" or "bad".

[Three Valves]

Musicians and critics tend to roll their eyes, and point out "This was a commission, and Tchaikovsky wrote it in only four weeks"...but (hey!) how much time did John Williams take writing each of those movie scores, how much advance notice did he have, and (if professional/successful composers) who do NOT write for commissions...??

I can program a computer.

I can write a thesis.

I could probably arrange a composition.

Or write a novel.

But it takes me a LONG TIME to do so. (Thusly, not my vocation)

I believe it's what separates those of us who are smart enough to get buy OK from genius.

[MikeS]

Like most everywhere else, we began the piece about 2/3rd of the way through (snare drum ruffs and French horns), and - once played to the end - then play Stars & Stripes in D (ok on C tuba, and interesting - now - on B-flat) with a fireworks show.

This is just about how it goes with you as well, yes...(??) whether you are in a band or orchestra.

The only time I have ever played the whole 1812 was a band transcription, and it was many years ago. I have done the shortened version many times with both band and orchestra. Playing Stars and Stripes in D always goes against muscle memory for me, regardless of what key instrument I have in my hands. It’s a shame turnabout is not fair play. I once offered to transpose everybody’s parts for the Borodin 2nd from B minor to BFlat minor for the benefit of the brass. It was not well received.

[Three Valves]

I once offered to transpose everybody’s parts for the Borodin 2nd from B minor to BFlat minor for the benefit of the brass. It was not well received.

The orchestra is full of petty, ungrateful, egomaniacs that think only of themselves!

[jtm]

Two years ago, with a band transcription. The director intended to cut out a lot of the middle, but enough people wanted to play the whole thing that we did. It was the first time I've ever played it, and we did three shows in two days, so now I've checked that one off my list.

[tofu]

First time I played it was HS orchestra. The auditorium was 100 years old and badly in need of repairs. The ventilation system was non existent and it turned out to be a very warm May Sunday and the temp inside was easily in the high eighties. The school had 5500 kids and I think the auditorium held 2500 - it was big. We regularly filled it though.

The canons were 10 dads in the huge balcony firing shotguns into galvanized metal 30 gallon garbage cans. Last piece on the program. Eight members of the group would go on to play in the top orchestras - CSO, LA Phil, NY Phil, Philly, Cleveland, Berlin & London - we were good. It was an insane finish to the spring concert - my final HS Concert. Ceiling tiles rained down upon audience members - gun smoke filled the auditorium and the sound levels were out of sight. Some parents ran for the exits - while others jumped up and down cheering at the madness unfolding. Afterwards the smoke didn’t clear much and many a grandma walked out covered in soot looking like they had just survived an actual battle. Crazy finish to a concert. Craziest start was at the Danville Brass Band festival in Kentucky maybe 20 years ago or so when in the middle of the first piece in front of a huge crowd at 5 pm on Saturday a tornado hit the campus. Absolute chaos resulted and a lot of huge trees toppled. We found a nearby school building to shelter in.

Since college I’ve played 1812 every summer with my Muni Band. We started out in the 1970’s at the request of the mayor when he asked the director if we could do it for the 4th. Director said it takes canons - we don’t have canons - so we can’t play it. Next day Mayor told him - I got us eight 105 howitzers from the National Guard. That was nuts. For the first 10 years we did it howitzers were right next to the band shell - similar in shape to the Hollywood Bowl. My god - every time they fired those canons the whole place shook. I could feel it in my seat. One year it was 100% humidity and hot. The wind was blowing toward in towards the crowd - seated only 20 yards away. The smoke just hung there under the big park trees. Those howitzers would make your heart skip a beat. They eventually decided in the name of safety to turn them 180 degrees away from the crowd - facing the parking lot - nobody thought to keep that particular lot free of cars. That resulted in something like 20 cars having their windows blown out. For the next 10 years they kept that lot roped off from cars.

Then some business sued the government alleging they were infringing on his biz of supplying canons and we couldn’t get the National Guard canons. So we hired both the local Revolutionary War re-enactors and the Civil War Re-Enactors. Probably 20 period canons of all sizes. It was great - until we asked them all after the piece to come up on stage and take a bow. Each group entered from opposite sides and were to pass each other…we didn’t know these 2 groups hated each other and had some kind of long term feud going on - a brawl on stage between the 2 groups erupted. Absolutely wild to watch from the back row and relieved my tuba was nowhere near the mayhem. After that spectacle we have only had the Civil War guys. And they have been great. Bringing a variety of canons from the war - in total 12. The town had about 250 Civil War veterans and we have our own authentic Civil War canon in the park. It’s a great show as the park where our performance center is located is ringed by several fantastic churches with bell towers. The whole thing is coordinated by Emergency Management and combined with our own slick sound system - the piece just comes to life with canons and bells. It’s a great way to do the piece. The crowd roars at the finish for 15 minutes. And in the interest of unity the Yankees and Confederates enter from the opposite sides of our new performance center with the 2 generals shaking hands. Crowd loves that and they don’t care it’s a Russian Piece about the war of 1812.

We have the second or third largest Carillon in the country and we have played it there a couple times down by our Riverwalk. That really doesn’t work because the sound of the Carillon is heard better a good distance away versus where the crowd is sitting on the hill. The crowd there is maybe 25,000 which is 2.5 times what our park holds - but it just doesn’t work musically. We have also fronted the concert at another huge town park where the fireworks are. We last did that maybe 20 years ago. That was the year half way through the concert a violent thunderstorm blew in and the 2 band buses were no where to be seen. We finally found one bus after 15 minutes - 90 people soaked stuffed in - it took 50 minutes to get out of there and across town to our performance center. We haven’t done it since because of that - until this coming July. It’s being held at the new fireworks location which is way on the other side of town - a 45 minute trip.

Perhaps 25 years ago a very fancy hotel in a town maybe 15 miles from us hired us to do a fourth concert in front of the fireworks for the town being held at the fancy hotel. They had a huge piece of land that included a lake. The band stand was in front of the lake. They did not tell us:

Our concert would be proceeded by Rock Bands - all day long - with cheap beer. It was a 95 degree - high humidity day. It was one of those days when you know there will be a thunderstorm on short notice. When we pulled up - I got out of the bus - the place was mobbed - we walked through the hotel and out the back and I immediately said oh no. I saw the huge crowd - predominated by shirtless sweaty morons swilling beer - jumping up and down in front of the 25 feet tall chicken wire - directly behind the chicken wire was the 2 x 4 hastily constructed band stand - which featured huge amps and a rock band just wailing. Above the stand I noticed a series of lights - right out of the Robert Redford baseball movie The Natural. This was to be the lighting they promised for us as we were playing starting 15 minutes before sunset for the fireworks. When we take the stage the crowd is a bit stupefied - and I’m saying this is not going to go well. We start doing our traditional 4th concert. And the beer bottles start flying at the chicken wire - think the Blues Brothers doing the Good Old Boys bar gig. It was going downhill from there. 30 minutes in the fireworks commence - this calms the crowd and we start 1812. We get maybe 25 measures in - the band stand faces due west and I can see the fast moving storm coming straight at us - the wind starts howling - the director is clueless - I’m pointing with one hand towards the storm - the lights from the natural are being battered by wind up and down and the giant bulbs start flashing & loudly popping - the director turns around - just as all hell breaks out and yells “RUN!!!” lol. Half the crowd is already running and half is so drunk - they’re just yelling and reveling in it. I just grabbed my horn and high tailed it for the bus. That storm was ferocious and spawned a tornado that touched down about a miles or so directly east of us.

I enjoy the spectacle of the piece - the crowds love it. I’ve always played the piece beginning to end. The crowd really leans in and listens intently as the piece builds - I love the opening and I think that helps to build their excitement. We also include in the program notes an explanation of the various parts of the piece which we now provide online via a QR code they can scan when they enter the grounds. I think that helps for a better understanding of what they are listening to and it’s not just about canons. I’m hoping this years rendition in front of the fireworks is bit calmer weather wise. I’m getting too old to be running full tilt with a large tuba in the midst of a violent thunderstorm for a bus several blocks away!

[Kevbach33]

I played it for the first time this spring with my community band — concert band transcription. We played the whole overture.

This group performs in a church, so having cannons or people shooting shotguns into galvanized trash cans is a no go. The cannon effect had to be performed by our bass drum, and the drummer nailed it. We're a good band, but I thought afterward that our director may have been a little too ambitious with this one...

I'd love to play it again with the proper equipment on hand, outdoors.

[The Brute Squad]

Never played it in an orchestra. I did once in a community band and I believe it was the full overture, but this was well over a decade ago so I don't completely remember.

We just had the band instruments, no cannons or church bells.

I once offered to transpose everybody’s parts for the Borodin 2nd from B minor to BFlat minor for the benefit of the brass. It was not well received.

Completely off-topic, but one year in college I played an April Fools trick on our conductor and transposed the tuba/euph parts of First Suite (just the first 8 bars because only we play) to E. Unless you have perfect pitch, you don't notice something is off until the trumpets and bones come in.

[bloke]

a couple of posts ago:

That's some wild Chicagoland sh!t, there.