Tchaikovsky Research : Coronation March

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TH 50

Coronation March

Коронационный марш

D major (1883).

Composed March 1883.
Scored for Piccolo; 2 Flutes; 2 Oboes; Cor Anglais; 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; Violoncellos; Double Basses
Also arranged for Piano solo by Tchaikovsky, March 1883.
First performed in Moscow, 23 May/4 June 1883, conducted by Sergei Taneev.
Average duration: 5m

History

Commissioned by Mayor of the City of Moscow for the occasion of the coronation of Aleksandr III in May 1883, for a performance in Sokol’nikii 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 cantata.

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’nikii... 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 Sof'ia Malozemova [3], Sergei Taneev [4], and Aleksei Sofronov [5].

On 7/19 March, he told Petr 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 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 Tchaikovsky told Petr Jurgenson: "I have finished the march, and will look through it once more and send it to you in a few days" [9].

On 26 March both manuscripts were sent to Petr Jurgenson [10].

The Coronation March was performed for the first time on 23 May 1883 in the Sokol’nikii (Moscow), conducted by Sergei Taneev; in Saint Petersburg on 29 December 1884 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 Petr Jurgenson in 1883.

Notes:

i.e. the cantata Moscow [back]
Letter 2236 to Nadezhda von Meck, 9/21 March 1883 [back]
Letter 2243 to Sof’ia Malozemova, 21 March/1 April 1883 [back]
Letter 2253 to Sergei Taneev, 1/13-3/15 April 1883 [back]
Letter 2237 to Aleksei Sofronov, 11/23 March 1883 [back]
Letter 2235 to Petr Jurgenson, 7/19 March 1883 [back]
Letter 2239 to Petr Jurgenson, 12/24 March 1883 [back]
Letter 2244 to Nadezhda von Meck, 21 March/2 April 1883 [back]
Letter 2245 to Petr Jurgenson, 23 March/4 April 1883 [back]
See letters 2248 and 2250 to Petr. Jurgenson, 25 March/6 April and 26 March/7 April 1883 [back]

Coronation March

Коронационный марш

History

Notes:

See also: