Tchaikovsky Research : Coronation March (TH 50)

Catalogue References	TH 50 ; ČW 47 (as "Festival Coronation March")
Date	March 1883
Key	D major
Tempo/Section Listing	Andante molto maestoso (D major, 125 bars)
Instrumentation	Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets (A), 2 Bassoons + 4 Horns (F), 2 Cornets (A), 2 Trumpets (D), 3 Trombones, Tuba + Timpani, Triangle, Cymbals, Bass Drum + Violins I, Violins II, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses
Arrangements	Also arranged for solo piano by Tchaikovsky, March 1883
Notable Performances	Moscow, Sokolniki Park, Coronation festival concert, 23 May/4 June 1883, conducted by Sergey Taneyev Saint Petersburg, 4th Russian Musical Society symphony concert, 29 December 1884/10 January 1885, conducted by Hans von Bülow (as Festival March) New York, [Carnegie] Concert Hall, opening concert, 23 April/5 May 1891, conducted by Tchaikovsky London, Organ School. student concert, 29 November/11 December 1894, conducted by George J. Bennett
Autograph Location	Moscow (Russia): Glinka National Museum Consortium of Musical Culture — full score
First Publication	Moscow: P. Jurgenson, 1883 (full score and Tchaikovsky's arrangement for solo piano)
Average Duration	5 minutes
Note	A study score is available for this work
External Links	IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library (downloadable score)

History

Commissioned by the Mayor of the City of Moscow for the occasion of the coronation of Alexander III in May 1883, for a performance in Sokol’niky Park.

Tchaikovsky received the commission while in Paris, where he was busy with the instrumentation of his opera Mazepa, and he protested his great displeasure at being forced to interrupt this work.

Tchaikovsky began composing the march on 5/17 March, according to the date in the notebook containing sketches for the march and the cantata Moscow.

On 9/21 March 1883, he wrote to Nadezhda von Meck: "My plans have been upset by two unexpected and very burdensome tasks foisted upon me. The city of Moscow have commissioned from me a ceremonial march to be played at the festivities which are to be organized for the Sovereign at the Sokol’niky... Hardly had I managed to reconcile myself to the thought that I must tear myself away from the opera for the march, when suddenly I received a letter from the festival committee about a cantata [1]. Both works, especially the cantata, have to be ready very soon, a prospect which fills me with dread" [2]. Later he reported the same to Sofya Malozemova [3], Sergey Taneyev [4], and Aleksey Sofronov [5].

On 7/19 March, he told Pyotr Jurgenson that the march should be ready within ten days. "This goes very much against my instincts, because I am generally not disposed to composition, and what’s more, I have had to set aside my poor unfinished opera for this" [6].

In another letter to Jurgenson of 12/24 March he reported that: "I am now simultaneously writing the March and the cantata... My days are spent as follows: in the morning until 12 o'clock I write the march; after a stroll, from 2.30 to 6.30 I write the cantata... I will send you the March, as you wanted, with an arrangement for 2 hands" [7].

By around 21 March/2 April both the cantata and the march had been completed in sketch form, and Tchaikovsky had commenced the orchestration of both works [8].

On 23 March/4 April Tchaikovsky told Pyotr Jurgenson: "I have finished the march, and will look through it once more and send it to you in a few days" [9].

The Coronation March was performed for the first time on 23 May/4 June 1883 in the Sokol’niky (Moscow), conducted by Sergey Taneyev; in Saint Petersburg on 29 December 1884/10 January 1885 under the title Festival March, in the fourth symphony concert of the Russian Musical Society, conducted by Hans von Bülow.

The full score and orchestral parts of the March, the author's arrangement for piano two hands, and Eduard Langer’s arrangement for piano duet were published by Pyotr Jurgenson in 1883.

Coronation March

(Коронационный марш)

History

Notes: