Tchaikovsky wrote the 18 12 overture in 1880. The full name of the overture is "Grand Orchestra's Solemn Overture for the Inauguration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow 18 12". Long enough! If you can recite every word when you buy a disc in a record store, I really admire you.

This song was written by Tchaikovsky at the request of his teacher, nikolai rubinstein, to celebrate Moscow's reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, which was burnt down by the French-Russian war in18/2 (in other words, this song was written for the Moscow Art Industry Expo).

The overture to "18 12" should be regarded as the most easy to understand among all Lao Chai's works. According to music critics, the overture to 18 12 is not Tchaikovsky's best work. Even Chai himself said in a letter to (Tchaikovsky's main patron), "This overture will be very noisy, very noisy, and I didn't have much enthusiasm when I wrote it, and it may not have any artistic value. Ironically, the overture "18 12" was very popular at its premiere and won Tchaikovsky a high reputation. Later, it was staged in many cities in Russia, Germany, Czech Republic and Belgium. Since then, it has been one of the most vivid, popular and popular works in Tchaikovsky's symphony, which is probably unexpected by Tchaikovsky.

Second, the content of "18 12" overture

18 12, Napoleon led 600,000 troops to invade Russia in an attempt to annihilate the Russian army, occupy Moscow and force Russia to surrender. At the beginning of the war, Napoleon's army was in an advantageous position, the Russian army had to retreat gradually, and France approached Moscow. Russian commander Kutuzov adopted the strategy of clearing the field and burning food and grass, evacuated residents and led the army to evacuate Moscow temporarily. After Napoleon occupied Moscow for a month, he still couldn't force Russia to surrender. Instead, he trapped himself in a heavy siege and ordered him to leave Moscow. On the way back, Napoleon's army couldn't adapt to the harsh winter in Russia, coupled with hunger and Russian counterattacks, and finally fell apart. When Napoleon invaded Russia, as many as 600,000 troops were mostly wiped out, and finally less than 1 10,000 people fled the Russian border.

18 12 Overture is an orchestral work based on the above historical facts. Tchaikovsky described the events of 18 12 in this overture, including the peaceful life of the Russian people, the subsequent turmoil and riots, the fighting between the Russian and French armies, and the carnival scene in which Russia defeated the French army and the Russian people celebrated their victory.

3. Why is the overture "18 12" used as test equipment by audio enthusiasts?

As I mentioned above, this overture is not one of Tchaikovsky's best works, but why is it widely used as test equipment by enthusiasts? There is a simple reason. In addition to normal orchestral instruments (including three timpani, triangle, tambourine, drum, cymbal, etc. ), this overture also uses extraordinary musical instruments such as drums, cannons and bells, and a military band is added at the end of the overture in order to receive lively and vivid effects.

When this overture was just staged, bells, drums and guns rang, which greatly excited the public attending the ceremony with the performance of the orchestra. After the modern dual-channel era, recording technology has made great progress. Several companies add real guns to their records, which fascinates audio lovers. They often use recorded real guns to test the strength, transient and low frequency of the equipment.

If you are not a "gun party", please listen to the whole song carefully and pay attention! The volume of this overture fluctuates greatly and many instruments are used. Listening carefully to strings, woodwinds, brass pipes and percussion instruments can test the timbre, image positioning, dynamics and dynamic contrast of your equipment. ...

If you can't distinguish the sounds of different instruments, you can buy a music disc of Peter and the Wolf first. Any beginner of classical music and parents with children, I recommend you to buy a copy of Peter and the Wolf. In the story of this song, each role is played by one of the instruments of the orchestra, which is very helpful for your voice discrimination. The child must be happy to listen (you should accompany him to listen! )。

Fourth, analyze 18 12 overture.

The version I chose to analyze is the version of Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mercury Dorati, which is my favorite version. Of course, I also like the version of RCA eugene ormandy conducting Philadelphia Orchestra. Why didn't I choose the Telarc version that many netizens bought recently? Quite simply, I don't think this version is ideal. The analysis part is based on Yang's Appreciation of World Famous Songs (published by Shanghai Music Publishing House), which is an authoritative version, and many comments in Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province Province are written (stolen) on this basis (except Hong Kong, our record critics are very imaginative, they will create and talk nonsense at random, and they are ignorant and inaccurate enough to make Hong Kong people have enough material to be teased). If you are used to reading books as thick as dictionaries, you can buy (two dictionaries). If you are afraid of big books, Yang has an Introduction to Symphony Appreciation (published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House), which is an abridged version of the previous book.

This article is mainly aimed at beginners of classical music, so I try not to use audio terms. Please forgive me when I have to. These terms are not difficult to understand. I hope that friends who don't know classical music at all can look up books or use their imagination. Please forgive me if the writing is not professional and accurate enough. (alas! Free lunch, don't scold me for my poor writing! )

The music begins with a huge slow introduction: this is the melody of an ancient hymn "Lord, Save Your People" (translated as "God Save People" in Taiwan Province Province), which is played by viola and cello in six parts (two people in each part), and its peaceful pace symbolizes the peaceful and quiet life of the Russian people. At about (1: 18), woodwind instruments were added to this theme, and the sound was solemn, grand and powerful.

The tension is getting stronger. Put a timpani (1: 53) beside you, and you will hear a rhythm of panic and anxiety in a low voice, which will bring riots and excitement, symbolizing that the invasion of the French army has broken the quiet life of the Russian people. At this time, you can hear a soft and touching theme, like crying, passing through oboe, flute, clarinet and bassoon in turn (2: 46). At around (2: 53) and (3: 0 1), you will hear the sound of drums and cymbals, and the speed of music will start to increase, and the sound will also increase, and the music will enter a small climax.

At about (3: 12), the original anxiety was replaced by an episode describing Russian conscription. You will hear the rapid drums (3: 26). Under the background of George W. snare drum, woodwind instruments and French horn played a theme of summoning ensemble, which was repeated several times, and then there was a short pause (4: 25).

The music at this time is in sharp contrast with the previous music. At this time, the music was extremely fast and began to describe the scene of the decisive battle between the two armies. From the emphasis on stress and syncopation in this theme, it seems that you can hear the sound of swords and shadows. When this theme gradually spread to the whole band and reached its climax, you will hear drums around (5: 02). At around (5: 08), the French horn and cornet played "La Marseillaise" one after another, which was repeatedly presented as a symbol of the French invasion of Russia.

The two melodies gradually eased after the collision (6: 04), followed by two Russian-style themes different from the theme of La Marseillaise. (6: 20) A fluent and vast Russian folk song appeared, telling the Russian people's love for the motherland and their determination to face the invading enemy without fear of violence. Pay attention to the sound of the orchestra playing the triangle at the moment. You should have heard enough overtones. If you can only hear dull timbre, either your record recording is poor or your equipment is poor.

Another theme that appeared at (7: 35) was the Russian wedding song "By the Door", which was first played by flute and clarinet. It has a warm feature. At around (7: 53), you will hear the tambourine, which should be clear. This song fully shows that the Russian people will not lose their exuberant vitality and confidence in affirming their own strength even in times of crisis. Like the Russian melody above, it soothes the tense fighting mood.

The next paragraph (8: 36) is a description of the battle scene. The music shows a new round of fighting. Brass instruments and stringed instruments are intertwined, and percussion instruments symbolize the battle of swords and shadows. At 9: 08, you will hear the sound of beating gongs and drums many times, and the "La Marseillaise" will gradually weaken and disappear in the later period. Its fragments will only accelerate and be intermittent.

(10: 06) There are two familiar Russian-style themes. Pay attention to the triangle. This passage once again emphasized the victory of the Russian people in invading the enemy. (10: 52) You will hear familiar Russian folk songs again. Following the theme of "La Marseillaise" (1 1: 13), the speed of music accelerated, and the first shot appeared at (1 1: 47), followed by five shots, and the music became a stormy downward phrase.

At about (12: 37), it comes to the end of the music and starts with the theme of the introduction hymn. At this time, the joined wind band plays solemnly and grandly with thunderous momentum, and you will hear the bells, coupled with the particularly novel colors of the wind chimes, which will become more magnificent and become a brilliant victory carol, symbolizing the brilliant ending of the struggle. However, the powerful statement of this hymn is repeatedly interrupted by some quick phrases on the theme of fighting (13: 40), and the reappearance of these musical phrases in the scale reminds people of the past struggle with the enemy.

Finally, a solemn and powerful theme sounded, which is the theme of the last chorus "Ode to Glory" of glinka's opera "ivan susanin", about (13: 52). With eleven guns and church bells ringing, this is the final victory announcement of the Russian people, and the whole music ends with this ode to joy of victory.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) introduces ten overture versions of 18 12.

(1), mercury 434 36O-2

Dorati's "18 12" overture Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now renamed Minnesota Symphony Orchestra) is my first choice. This record has been on the TAS list for many years in a row, and it has been given the highest evaluation of 3 stars with flowers by Penguin CD Guide (Yearbook 97/98), and it has been listed as the first choice of 18 12 overture. Chen Yingguang's CD Bible also recommends this version (unfortunately, his introduction can't be separated from gunfire). There is no denying that the sound of guns on this record is one of its selling points, and MERCURY's great success lies in its pioneering use of recording technology, adding real guns and church bells to the band's performance. This record was recorded twice by Mercury Company, both by the same conductor and band. Was the first recording in 1954 or in the mono era? The gunfire was recorded at West Point Military Academy from an ancient gun made in the Napoleonic era, and the bell was recorded from the big clock on the campus of Yale University. The second recording was at 1958. At this time, it has entered the stereo era. At 1775, the gun was replaced by a French-made cannon, and the bell was replaced by the bell of the church on the new york River.

MERCURY and TELARC recorded guns, bells and orchestral performances, respectively, and then mixed them. Because of the excellent recording, realistic effect and the shocking effect of real gunfire, this record has become an audition disc for enthusiasts and audio manufacturers. In the production of 1958, three microphones and a three-channel recorder were used for recording, and the recording effect was very advanced at that time. In the vinyl era, this record sold more than 2 million copies, which can be described as the treasure of Mercury.

The current CD version was transcribed from the recording master of 1958. According to the current recording technology, the background noise of this CD is a bit loud (don't worry, I am picky, maybe you will disagree).