Ravinia 2022, Issue 5

IT DOESN’T HAPPEN OFTEN, but a few of the world’s creations manage to attain not just widespread recognition but practically universal acclaim. To name a few examples in a few different categories: the Great Pyramid and the Eiffel Tower; Michelangelo’s David and Van Gogh’s Starry Night ; Spider-Man and Cookie Monster. And of course, from the world of classical music, the gallant 1812 Overture, complete with its stirring brass, cathedral bells, and now-iconic climactic cannon fire. Of course, some people can find fault with anything. One such naysayer fa- mously decried the overture’s 15 majestic minutes, dismissing it as “very loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit, obviously written without warmth or love.” The kicker? The person making that acid-tongued assertion was none other than the composer himself, Peter (or Pyotr) Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ouch! Yet neither that savage self-own nor Tchaikovsky’s Russian identity have ar- rested the music’s remarkable popularity in America. Commissioned to celebrate the victory of Tsar Alexander’s military over Napoleon’s invading army in Mos- cow, the overture has only grown in stature in the 140 years since its premiere. Indeed, its fame began to accelerate in the latter half of the 20th century. TCHAIKOVSKY’S GIFT FOR MINING MIRTH AND MELANCHOLY IN MELODY IS MADE MEMORABLE WITH THE 1812 ’S SPECTACLE- LADEN FINALE By WeB Behrens RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 15 – AUGUST 28, 2022 16