Festival Overture "1812", op. 49

Nikolai Rubinstein asked Tchaikovsky in 1880 for an occasional piece tied to the Moscow Arts and Industry Exhibition and the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Tchaikovsky finished it in six weeks and thought little of the result, telling Nadezhda von Meck that it was very loud and noisy and written without warmth or love. The score recalls the repulse of Napoleon by setting an Orthodox hymn against La Marseillaise, then closing with bells, cannon and the imperial anthem — a tune that did not exist in 1812. The premiere came in August 1882.