Hi!
I understand that Tchaikovsky didn't like the 1812 overture, but
I recently heard somewhere that he was essentially coerced to write
(finish?) it. Can you tell me if there's any truth to that?
Thanks!
Steve Ridone
"Coerced" is perhaps putting a little strongly, but he expressed
his "utmost loathing" for this kind of commission, but since it was
intended for the jubilee of Tsar Alexander II, he didn't feel able to
refuse!
See also the work
history for a full account of the origins of the overture.
Brett Langston