Does Tchaikovsky’s recurring use of music from ‘God save the Tsar’ make him a nationalistic composer? In the early 19th century the desire of European countries to embrace stronger national identities saw the emergence of nationalism. Nicholas Temperley explains musical nationalism as involving ‘the conscious use of elements that can be recognised as belonging to one’s own nation, with the object of arousing patriotic feelings’. 1 In Russia, the Kuchka (The Mighty Five composers – Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui and Borodin), forged their style by embracing folksongs and composing with forms not common of traditional European styles. Alternatively, Tchaikovsky preferred to write in the German style and only occasionally used folksongs. However, in at least six of his compositions, Tchaikovsky made use of God Save the Tsar (Figure 1), the national anthem of the Russian Empire from 1833-1917. Figure 1. Lvov, Piano arrangement of Russian Hymn, God Save the Tsar. 2 1 Nicholas Temperley, ‘Nationalism’, in Oxford Music Online, www.oxfordmusiconline.com , accessed 6 August 2010 2 Alex Lvov, Russian Hymn (God Save the Tsar). Berlin: Schlesinger, n.d.
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Does Tchaikovsky’s recurring use of music from ‘God save the Tsar’ make him a nationalistic
composer?
In the early 19th century the desire of European countries to embrace stronger national identities saw
the emergence of nationalism. Nicholas Temperley explains musical nationalism as involving ‘the
conscious use of elements that can be recognised as belonging to one’s own nation, with the object of
arousing patriotic feelings’.1 In Russia, the Kuchka (The Mighty Five composers – Balakirev,
Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui and Borodin), forged their style by embracing folksongs and
composing with forms not common of traditional European styles. Alternatively, Tchaikovsky
preferred to write in the German style and only occasionally used folksongs. However, in at least six of
his compositions, Tchaikovsky made use of God Save the Tsar (Figure 1), the national anthem of the
Russian Empire from 1833-1917.
Figure 1. Lvov, Piano arrangement of Russian Hymn, God Save the Tsar.2
I argue that Tchaikovsky’s use of the country’s anthem, with its ability to arouse feelings of patriotism,
was no less a form of nationalism than the use of native folksongs by the Kuchka.
In 1833, a time when Italian operas where the common form of entertainment in Russia, a letter was
circulated to the heads of state from the ‘minister of “popular enlightenment” ‘ (that is, education, as
the Bolsheviks would also call it) insisting that education should now be approached, as per the
Intention of the Tsar, with Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality.3 In response to this new doctrine of
1 Nicholas Temperley, ‘Nationalism’, in Oxford Music Online, www.oxfordmusiconline.com, accessed 6 August 20102 Alex Lvov, Russian Hymn (God Save the Tsar). Berlin: Schlesinger, n.d.3 Richard Taruskin, Defining Russia Musically. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000, 26.
‘Official Nationality’ Mikhail Glinka composed his opera A Life for the Tsar (1836), which heralded a
new era in art music in Russia and provided a point in time that can be viewed as the moment ‘the
Russian school can really be seen to have been inaugurated’.4 Tchaikovsky and the Kuchka where
greatly inspired by Glinka, yet they maintained differing philosophies regarding composition and what
constituted ‘Russian’ music. It is interesting to note that whilst the use of folk-tunes is key to the
nationalistic style of the Kuchka, Beethoven is not considered a composer of Russian nationalism,
despite his many works based on Russian folk-tunes.
The six known works by Tchaikovsky that use God Save the Tsar all contain strong links to patriotism or
key moments in Russia’s history. The Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem (Op. 16, 1866)
was written for the marriage of Tsar Alexander III to the Danish Princess Dagmar and features both the
Royal Danish Anthem and God Save the Tsar, though Tchaikovsky’s decision to quote the Russian
Anthem in a minor key resulted in the work not being used for its original purpose. His 1872 Cantata
for the Opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition was written in memory of Peter the Great, who ruled
during the transition from Russia to the Russian Empire in the 17th century. The Slavonic March (Op.
31, 1876) celebrated the alliance Russia had with the Serbians as they fought the Turks, and features a
re-working of a Serbian folk-tune (Fig. 2) as well as the Imperial Hymn.
Figure 2. Tchaikovsky, Slavonic March, Bars 5-9 with Serbian Folk-tune in Bassoon and Viola. 5
His solo piano work March for the Volunteer Fleet (1878) concluded with a quote of God save the Tsar
(Fig. 3).
4 M. Montagnu-Nathan, A History of Russian Music: Being an account..., London: William Reeves, 1918, 8.5 Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Slavonic March Op. 31, ed. Irina Nikolayevna Iordan, New York: Kalmus, n.d, 2.
Figure 3. Tchaikovsky, March for the Volunteer Fleet, Page 4, God Save the Tsar is used in the last eight bars.6
His Coronation March (1883) for Tsar Alexander III made use of both God Save the Tsar and the Danish
Anthem, to honour the Tsars Danish wife.
The sixth, and most well known of these works is the 1812 Overture, a work commissioned to
commemorate the failure of the Napoleon lead invasion of Russia by France. Tchaikovsky makes use of
several Russian tunes to portray the Russian people and paints the battle using the French Anthem La
Marseilleise and God Save the Tsar to represent to the two armies. When discussing 1812 one may
argue if any sense of nationalism exists purely because of the works commission, and therefore may
not be a true display of nationalism. I would counter such an argument with the view that Tchaikovsky
would have been selected for the commission as a result of his previous catalogue of works, several of