Motivations behind the Dancing Star: Revolution and Money
How is a great musical work born? Is it composer's anguish, or simply excellent writing by an accomplished composer?
The original cover page to the Eroica Symphony by Beethoven showing the scratching out of the title - https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/guides/beethoven-20-facts-about-great-composer/eroica-dedication-napoleon/
18 May 1804. Napoleon declares himself Emperor of France. A young Beethoven watches in horror as his hero of revolution shows himself up to be nothing more than yet another self-serving, power-hungry politician. The composer angrily scratches out the original title of his new symphony; ‘Sinfonia intitolata Bonaparte’ (‘Symphony entitled Bonaparte’), and renames it with the very subtle name ‘Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man’ (‘Sinfonia Eroica composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d’un grand’uomo’).
However, Beethoven's third symphony was not merely heroic in its intentions of commending a revolutionary victor; it was revolutionary in form, harmony and magnitude, and revolutionary for the composer himself. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche; ‘One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star’. The Eroica Symphony was Beethoven’s dancing star, and his chaos was his early and rapidly deteriorating hearing. In 1802, Beethoven retired to Heilligenstadt, a village near Vienna, to recover from the depression and suicidal thoughts that were arising from his unfortunate condition. Emerging from this period a couple of years later, he was determined to overcome his struggles, and reinstate himself as an artist. Thus, the Eroica was as much a celebration of his own triumph in his personal battle, as it was a celebration of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Upon its premiere, this dancing star was recognised as a revolutionary piece of music, not only in the people it celebrated, but in its place in the history of classical music. It is considered one of the works that initiated the change from the Classical to the Romantic periods, and was commended for doing so half a century later, by Tchaikovsky himself, one of the greatest Romantic composers ever. In 1872, in a review article for a Moscow journal, commenting on a concert of the Russian Musical Society, Tchaikovsky claimed that in this symphony, ‘Beethoven’s creative genius reveals itself fully for the first time’, with ‘the novelty of its grandiose form’, ‘the laconic punch of its main musical ideas’, and ‘an orchestral technique of unsurpassed perfection’.
Tchaikovsky’s own motivations appeared to stem from two main sources; expressions of love and of anguish. He claimed that music ought to express everything ‘which gushes forth from the soul and cries out to be expressed’, and whilst love and anguish manifested themselves in his life in various forms, one of Tchaikovsky’s predominant and persistent chaos-causers was his feelings of inadequacy. In a letter to his brother whilst writing his opera Iolanta, he lamented that he was plagued by a doubt ‘on whether my creative abilities are sufficient, and this doubt torments me and causes depression’. He gave himself an ultimatum, deciding that depending on the outcome of the opera ‘either I shall overcome it and continue to use up music notepaper for a few more years, or I will lay down my weapons’. One of the causes for his feelings of incompetency seemed to have been Beethoven himself, whom Tchaikovsky greatly admired, as is evident from his diary: upon studying a Beethoven symphony, ‘This music would cause me to feel sad each time and made me an unhappy person for weeks. From then on I was filled with a burning desire to write a symphony — a desire which would erupt afresh each time that I came into contact with Beethoven's music. However, I would then feel all too keenly my ignorance, my complete inability to deal with the technique of composition, and this feeling brought me close to despair.’ However, all this anguish gave birth to many dancing stars, with the composer himself admitting about Iolanta, having made more progress on the opera; ‘I'm generally quite pleased with myself.’
However, composers could not compose purely for personal expression; they had to earn their living, and Tchaikovsky was no exception. Being greatly admired by Tsar Alexander III, he was commissioned to write Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem for the wedding of Alexander III to Maria Dagmar, as well as Moscow and Coronation March for the coronation of the Tsar. In return for his many contributions to the musical scene in Russia, Tchaikovsky was awarded a lifetime pension, a valuable ring as a personal gift from the Tsar, and the Order of Saint Vladimir (4th class). But how does a composer create music on commission, music which is necessary for them to create, but which has not come gushing forth from their soul in response to a failed romance, or a traumatic event? Or is it possible for a composer to harness their emotion and pour it into their paid commissions, adhering to the rules of the commission? Apparently not for Tchaikovsky. The Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem was not performed again after the wedding of Tsar Alexander III, apparently because 'the talented young composer, for some unknown reason, set our Russian national anthem in the minor key, which completely transforms the character of this well-known tune'. For what reason Tchaikovsky decided to do this is unclear, but what is apparent is his dislike of composing for such commissions, a fact which arises very clearly from his attitude to the 1812 Overture.
In 1812, our same Napoleon Bonaparte, unsatisfied with having made himself Emperor, invaded Russia. He had pulled France out of the revolution, and decided to gain territory eastward for France. He was initially successful in his invasions, but as France’s power grew, the rest of Europe grew restless. Britain led coalitions against France, and so by invading, Napoleon hoped to force Tsar Alexander I to stop trading with Britain. Due mainly to the freezing conditions, which his troops were not prepared for, Napoleon was defeated by the Russian Imperial Army, a defeat which was the beginning of the end of Napoleon and his French empire. 70 years later, Rubinstein, the head of music at the event, commissioned Tchaikovsky to compose for the opening of the All-Russian Arts and Industrial Exhibition, which celebrated both the defeat of France and the silver jubilee of Tsar Alexander II. Rubinstein gave the composer three options:
An overture for the silver jubilee of Alexander II;
A cantata for the consecration of the nearly completed cathedral of Christ the Saviour; or
An overture to open the exhibition.
Tchaikovsky expressed his delight in a letter to his friend and publisher Pyotr Jurgenson; ‘It is impossible to set about without repugnance such music which is destined for the glorification of something that, in essence, delights me not at all’. And to his close friend Nadezhda von Meck; ‘What, for instance, might one write on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition, besides banalities and generally noisy passages?” Tchaikovsky kept to his word and wrote an overture which was ‘very loud and noisy’, written ‘without any warm and loving feelings’, thus ‘lacking in artistic merit’. However, despite his own reservations, the overture proved to be one of his most celebrated compositions, perhaps due to the precise aspect which Tchaikovsky so detested; the noisy, glorious, celebratory passages. But how does a composer write such a successful piece without ‘loving feelings’? Apparently through the age-old tradition of resuting material. The opening theme of the overture is based on the theme of Lord, preserve thy people, a Russian prayer for victory in battle. A Russian folksong By the Gates found its way into the piece, as well as a motif from the opera by Tchaikovsky, The Voyevoda. Tchaikovsky conveyed the victory of Russia over France by using the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, and subsequently, the Russian anthem God Save the Tsar. Thus, we can imagine that the nationalistic, triumphant nature of this piece was extremely appealing to people in Russia at the time. The Overture also appealed to a more unlikely listener - in 1974, in Boston, David Mugar was financing a Boston Pops outdoor concert for the fourth of July, conducted by Arthur Fielder. The men were worried about the low attendance, and went searching for a piece which could attract an audience. They felt that the 1812 Overture, which calls for the use of cannons, would be perfect. Tchaikovsky himself wrote that he intended the 'cannon’ to be 'the large suspended drum which is beaten like a gran cassa', as opposed to a real cannon. However, Mugar and Fielder had an audience to please, so they brought out real cannons, resulting in a concert which went down in the Guinness World Record for the best-attended classical concert. Ever since, the 1812 Overture has been played every year on Independence Day in the USA. Here, we must pause and take a step back. Firstly, is it right to play such a nationalistic Russian piece on Independence Day, with the current events taking place in Ukraine, especially when there are plenty of celebratory pieces which would be suitable? The second question is; how does a conductor interpret a piece such as the 1812 Overture? The role of the conductor is to realise the intentions of the composer, but when the composer was writing out of obligation, and without love, what stance must the conductor take? Should the approach be different for a piece which was revolutionary for the composer, as well as for the musical world, such as Sinfonia Eroica; in comparison to a piece produced for a celebration, on commission, such as the 1812 Overture?
Bibliography:
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/The_Year_1812
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/The_Voyevoda_(opera)
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Alexander_II
https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Alexander_III
https://www.wqxr.org/story/heres-why-1812-overture-has-held-independence-day/
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/music-time/beethoven-and-napoleon
https://www.popularbeethoven.com/the-history-of-beethovens-third-symphony-eroica/
With the history surrounding the 1812 Overture, and especially the Russian nationalistic aspect of it, should Americans be rethinking their choice of music for Independence Day, in light of events in Ukraine at the moment?