Grade 5

1812 Overture
Petr Tchaikovsky, composer
Martin Tousignant, arranger

Instrumentation
Full Score Bb Trumpet 1
Bb Trumpet 2
Piccolo/Flute1 Bb Trumpet 3
Flute 2 Bb Trumpet 4
Oboe/Cor Anglais F Horn 1
Clarinet 1 F Horn 2
Clarinet 2 Trombone 1
Clarinet 3 Trombone 2
Bass Clarinet Trombone 3
Bassoon Bass Trombone
Alto Saxophone 1 BC Euphonium
Alto Saxophone 2 TC Euphonium
Tenor Saxophone Tuba
Baritone Saxophone Double Bass
Timpani (3)
Snare Drum, Triangle, Tambourine
Cymbals
Bass Drum
Artillery
Chimes
 1812$Overture$
Program$Notes!
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American! audiences! can! largely! thank! the! late! Arthur! Fiedler! for! making! the!
1812! Overture! an! Independence! Day! tradition.! ! In! 1974! he! scheduled! a! Boston!
Pops!performance!on!the!Esplanade!complete!with!live!artillery!fire,!church!bells,!
and! fireworks.! ! The! performance! was! nationally! broadcast,! and! orchestras!
across!the!U.!S.!added!it!to!their!summer!programs!the!following!year.! ! In!order!
for! American! audiences! to! accept! the! work,! we! almost! had! to! overlook! the!
Russian! victory! over! Napoleon’s! army! the! work! depicts.! ! Our! struggles! with!
Great! Britain! during! the! War! of! 1812! just! happened! to! coincide.! ! According! to!
musicologist! David! Grayson! of! the! University! of! Minnesota,! “When! people! are!
raising! a! Budweiser! to! the! fireworks! and! listening! to! the! 1812! Overture,! they!
aren’t!stupid.! ! They’re!relating!to!it!in!an!individual!way.”!
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Tchaikovsky!himself!disparaged!the!overture!to!his!patroness!von!Meck!as!“very!
loud! and! noisy…but! without! artistic! merit.”! ! While! certainly! loud! and! noisy,! I!
must! differ! with! the! composer’s! assessment.! ! Except! for! the! interminable!
descending! scale! pattern! depicting! the! French! retreat,! he! wrote! highly! effective!
and! wellVcrafted! program! music,! clearly! delineated.! ! My! arrangement! seeks! to!
translate!and!sometimes!reduce!the!orchestral!score!into!the!wind!band!medium.!
!
Martin!Tousignant!
Hephzibah,!Georgia!USA!
5!April!2012!
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Note:! Due! to! the! complexity! of! this! score,! it! is! suggested! to! print! out! the! score!
and!enlarge!it!to!11”!x!17”!at!your!favorite!photocopy!store.!