Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave [Pletnev-Russian National Orchestra] When i first got into Classical music, i quickly developed a love for Tchaikovsky and his Symphonies, and on an early cassette that i bought was a filler in the way of Marche Slave, and i must admit i didn't care too much for the 1812 Overture, but this nationalistic piece really blew me away, and i don't hear it all that often, but when i do, i think it's so perfectly organized to stir up feelings of belonging and pride.
Mikhail Pletnev is now 53, he formed this Orchestra on this disc in 1990, and this was their debut disc recorded in 1991, Pletnev of course is Russian himself, and even though the booklet picture isn't any great shakes [by Peter Mountain], the music inside is.
Written in B Flat Minor [the same key as his Piano Concerto 1], a dark and solemn march it starts out as, with sombre cellos and basses, but the whole thing is really a military march, and quickly the whole thing becomes war like, early on there's this lovely section [1:26-2:48], where the the strings become more and more agitated [1:26+], and it builds up and up until the violins are frightened [1:47+], the low strings also become agitated [1:59+], and the whole thing explodes in an angry brass fanfare [2:10+], with shrill piccolos / flutes, frantic violins, and beating timpani, a lovely cacophony!, then the cymbals crash and crash [2:27+], and the timpani beat and beat away, this whole section is repeated again about 3 minutes later to great effect [4:46-6:04], after some brass band music, the trumpets have these little fanfare flourishes [3:44-4:05], but the whole thing is like a constant merry-go-round, and it's a thrilling ride, the ending is very 1812, with a very loud tam-tam for extra effect [7:35+], another great Tchaikovsky composition that has me thrilling at the patriotic feelings it wells up.
Here's Pletnev conducting Marche Slave on YouTube.
