March Slav (tr Simpson)

Peter I Tchaikovsky

Peter I Tchaikovsky (orch. Simpson)

This work bears the designation Opus 31.

General Info

Year: 1876 / 2000
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Masters Music Publications Inc
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $100.00   |   Score Only (print) - $25.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo I-II
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Cornets I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bass Drum
• Crash Cymbals
• Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Marche Slav dates from 1876, a time when large numbers of Slavic troops were fighting on the side of Serbia against Turkey, and Russia was making plans to officially enter the war the following year. During this time of great pan-Slavonic enthusiasm, Nicolai Rubinstein, the director of the Moscow Conservatory (where Tchaikovsky taught harmony) organized a concert for the benefit of the wounded soldiers. He asked Tchaikovsky, who was in full sympathy with the feeling of the hour, to write this march for the occasion. Ss a musical expression of the emotions then dominant in Russia, it was a huge success.

- Program Note from March Music Notes

In 1876, Tchaikovsky was commissioned by the Russian Musical Society to compose a piece for a concert to benefit the Red Cross Society, in support of Serbian veterans wounded during the ongoing Serbo-Turkish war. Tchaikovsky composed the programmatic march in just 5 days. The piece begins with 2 Serbian folk songs, to describe the oppression of the Serbs by the Turkish. A simple dance melody in a major key follows, representing the Russian effort to rally support for the Serbs. The Russian national anthem ("God save the Tsar") is heard, followed by a frenetic section depicting the Russian army coming to assist the Serbs. An eyewitness to the premier of the Marche wrote: "The rumpus and roar that broke out in the hall [is almost beyond] description. The whole audience rose to its feet. . . It was one of the most stirring moments of 1876. Many in the hall were weeping." If this work sounds familiar, perhaps it's because Tchaikovsky used the Tsarist Anthem again in his 1812 Overture. Marche Slave became one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works and he often used it as a dramatic finale to his concerts while on tour.

- Program Note by Patricia Matos Puente for the Stony Brook Wind Ensemble concert program, 2014

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by this Composer

• 1812 Overture (arr. Lake) (1880)
• 1812 Overture (arr. Kimura) (1880)
• 1812 Overture (arr. Mol) (1880)
• 1812 Overture (arr. Laurendeau, ed. Schissel) (1880/1904/2010)
• 1812 Overture (arr. Whitcomb) (1880)
• 1812 Overture (arr. Williams) (1880/1997)
• 1812 Overture (tr. Patterson) (1880)
• Andante Cantabile (arr. Safranek) (/1913)
• Capriccio Italien (tr. Hindsley) (1880/1984)
• Characteristic Dances from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Rogan/McAllster/Reed)
• Cossak Dance (tr. Bourgeois) (2008)
• Dance of the Jesters (arr. Cramer) (1873/1997)
• Dance of the Reed Flutes (arr. Cook) (1892/1990)
• Dance of the Reed Flutes (arr. Schwalbe) (1892/2015?)
• Dances from The Oprichnik (tr. Bourgeois) (1872/2008)
• Dances des mirlitons (arr. Buitenhuis) (1892/)
• Entry March from "Swan Lake" (tr. Billis) (1877/1996)
• Faeries (arr. Davis; adapt. Longfield) (1891/)
• Festive Overture on the Danish National Anthem (arr. Godfrey) (1908)
• Finale from Symphony in F minor No 4 (arr. Safranek) (ed. Ragsdale) (1878/1912/2004)
• Finale from Symphony in F minor No 4 (tr Hindsley) (tr. Hindsley) (1878/197-?)
• Finale from Symphony in F minor No 4 (arr Sato) (arr. Sato) (1878/2014)
• Gems of Tchaikovsky (arr. Clark) (1917)
• Jurisprudence (1885)
• Le Lac des Cygnes: Act I, Scene 1 (arr. Nefs) (1876/)
• Mad Russian's Christmas, A (arr. Phillips and Megaw) (1891/1996/2015)
• Marche Militaire (arr. Schaeffer)
• March from "The Sleeping Beauty" (arr. Bourgeois) (1890/2018)
• March Slav (tr. Daehn) (1876/1994)
• March Slav (orch. Simpson) (1876/2000)
• Marche Slav (arr. Laurendeau) (1876/1906)
• Marche Slave (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1917)
• Miniature Overture from "Suite from 'The Nutcracker'" (tr. Rogan; ed. McAlister and Reed) (1892/2001)
• Nutcracker Fantasy, The (ad. Yo Goto)
• Nutcracker Suite (arr. Lake) (1891/1924)
• Nutcracker Suite (arr Curnow) (arr. Curnow) (1891)
• Nutcracker Sweets (arr. Corwell) (1891/2010)
• Polonaise from "Third Suite" (arr. Godfrey) (1884/1916)
• Romeo and Juliet (trans. Hindsley) (1880/?)
• Scenes from "The Nutcracker" (arr. Story) (1884/2010)
• Selections from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Longfield) (1884/1992)
• Sleeping Beauty, The (arr. Bennett) (1960)
• Sleeping Beauty: Waltz (arr. Eilhardt) (1889)
• Suite from "Swan Lake" (tr. Yodo) (1876/)
• Suite from the Ballet "The Swan Lake" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1911)
• Symphony No. 6 (arr. Hindsley)
  • Symphony No. 6 -- First Movement (arr. Hindsley) (1893/197-?)
  • Symphony No. 6 -- Third Movement (arr. Hindsley) (1893/197-?)
• Tchaikovskyana (arr. Daehn) (1979/2015)
• Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hits (arr. Moss) (2003)
• Theme and Variations from "Suite in G Major" (arr. Winterbottom) (1884/1937)
• Themes from "The Nutcracker Suite" (arr. Johnson) (1891/1952)
• Waltz from "Sleeping Beauty" (tr. Lake) (1889/1937)
• Waltz of the Flowers (tr. Lake) (1892/1919)

Resources

• Smith, Norman E. (1986). March Music Notes. Lake Charles, La.: Program Note Press, p. 410.