Is your band or orchestra working on Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” & you’d like to add some listening to performance preparation? Or maybe you’re playing this piece & want to delve into some of the history to inform your performance? Or maybe you’re a regular Fischarper blog reader (thank you!!!!) & you happened upon today’s post.
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Whatever reason brings you here, welcome! Today on the blog, I’m sharing some “1812 Overture” resources I’ve found around the web. If you have any favorites that I missed, please leave them in the comments!
Sheet Music & Recordings
Since Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” is in the public domain, you can legally get some downloadable versions for free.
Free sheet music & recording from musopen.org.
More free sheet music (score, parts, arrangements & transcriptions) from Petrucci Music Library.
Or you can look into purchasing arrangements from a provider such as Sheet Music Plus.*
Did you know that you can even sell your own arrangements via SMP Press*?
Tchaikovsky
Looking for some resources about Tchaikovsky himself? Check these out!
This Tchaikovsky Staggered Book from Cori Bloom on Teachers Pay Teachers looks cool. And it’s free!
Your students (or you!) might enjoy coloring this free printable Tchaikovsky coloring sheet from Making Music Fun, especially while listening to his “1812 Overture.”
Listening Activities
Here (or hear…haha…I know…I’m hilarious) are some listening activities for the “1812 Overture.”
“1812 Overture” listening activity from Kennedy Center’s Arts Edge.
Melody Soup offers a free “1812 Overture” listening map.
History
I love music history. Here are a few resources for looking into the 1812 Overture & it’s performance.
Here’s a recording from Houston Public Media about why the 1812 Overture is performed on the 4th of July in the US. There is perhaps one incident of language, so parents should listen to this before students.
From Will Baker, this version of “God Save the Tsar!” is intended for trombone practice. However, it also includes some cool (yes, I’m a bit of a nerd) information on its inclusion in Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” as well as a little info on the edits made during the Soviet Era. I think it’s so cool to dive into music & find the quotations, themes (& how they’re altered), & any other little nuggets! I think there’s a tiny bit of language (but partially muted) at the end of the trombone demonstration video.
Would you like to see more song &/or composer resource roundups on the blog?
-Barbara
*affiliate link
Original cannon photo by zibik via Unsplash.
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.