Tchaikovsky, Marche Slave

In 1866, the region of Europe that we now know as the Republic of Serbia declared itself in a "state of war" with the Turks, and in June of that year, the Serbians began to fight valiantly against the Ottoman Empire that had annexed the region a long time ago: in the middle of the XVI century. But the Serbs were not alone in their fight. The Russian Empire came to their aid, openly supporting them by sending volunteers to the battlefields and receiving back the wounded and maimed. Despite the effort, Serbia lost the war.

The newly created Red Cross Society was then forced to request help from the Russian Musical Society to programme a concert for the benefit of both the organization and Serbian veterans. Promptly, the director of the musical society scheduled a concert for November of that year, commissioning the professor of the Moscow Conservatory, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovski, to compose a work to enhance the event.

Despite being going through one of his accustomed creative drought periods, Pyotr Ilyich got down to work. The piece, which he called "Serbo-Russian March" while he was working on it, was premiered on November 17 of that year with the definitive French title Marche Slave (Slavic March).

On the occasion, the conductor was his friend, pianist and director of the Moscow Conservatory, Nicolai Rubinstein, who the following month would intensely disrupt the life of Pyotr Ilyich by getting him the patronage of a wealthy Russian lady, Nadezhda von Meck. But that is another story.

The work was well received by the audience and satisfied Pyotr Ilyich. This is how he told his sister:

"Last Saturday my Serbo-Russian march was played here for the first time, resulting in a real storm of patriotic enthusiasm."

Marche Slave, op 31
The work belongs quite properly to the genre known as programmatic music. Hand in hand with Serbian folk songs, there are distinguishable passages about the oppression suffered by the Serbs, their cry for help, the Russian response on the way, and even a hopeful song of future triumph, through the invocation of the Russian national anthem.
The work shares some passages with the 1812 Overture, which Piotr would compose four years later.

The rendition is by the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas, conducted by César Iván Lara.