My choir is singing on the weekend in two performances of the Classical Spectacular, which I gather has been doing the rounds internationally over the past few months. It’s a real “bums on seats affair”, with every popular piece of classical music on the program. We have the excitement of five pieces (in five different languages):
*O Fortuna * (naturally)
*Va pensiero * (the Hebrew slaves’ chorus from Nabucco)
*Gloire immortelle * (the soldiers’ chorus from Faust)
No, I mean the 1812 overture. I think I’d notice the difference between singing in German and singing in Russian. There’s a version of the 1812 with additional choral parts.
Ah. You mean the hymm that Tchaikovski incorporated into it. That’s like singing The Marseillaise and saying you’re singing the choral part of the 1812 Overture.
Except the words to the Marseillaise, to my knowledge, have never been sung while performing the 1812 Overture, and there are no other choral parts performed aside from the Hymn, so I’d say it was a reasonable (if not ultra-specific) shorthand reference.
That’s drawing rather a long bow, don’t you think? We could be singing *Advance Australia Fair * too and claiming that it’s part of the 1812 Overture. But we’re not. We’re singing the choral parts incorporated by Tchaikovsky and normally associated with the *1812 Overture * when the orchestral/choral version is performed.
Hope the performances are going well, Cunctator. I’ve sung in the chorus of three out of the five pieces that you list, including the 1812 Overture. To me, there is no sound on earth more spine-tingling than a full orchestra and chorus. Being in the middle of it all makes it just that much more enjoyable.
We had the final rehearsal last night Kizarvexius. Everything seemed to go pretty well. We’ve even been issued with earplugs for the 1812! First performance is tonight (Saturday).
