In 1880, Peter I. Tchaikovsky wrote his orchestral piece 1812 OUVERTUERE SOLENNELLE in E-flat major, Op. 49, a musical battle scene intended to commemorate Russia's victory in the Napoleonic Wars of 1812.

The work is structured in three parts, following the structure of a 'battaglia' (army formation - battle action - victory anthem), and is thus very similar to, for example, Ludwig van Beethoven's 'Wellington's Victory'.

Although the overture enjoyed tremendous success at its premiere on August 20, 1882, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Tchaikovsky was rather skeptical of this music: "The overture will be quite loud and noisy, but since I wrote it without love, it has no artistic value" (from a letter to Nadezhda von Meck).

This highly effective piece is still very popular in concerts today.