The 1812 Overture is an orchestral overture by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1880. It is a late-Romantic, programme work that employs expansive orchestration, hymn-like and folk-derived melodies and pronounced climaxes, including the unusual utilisation of artillery and bell effects to evoke a historical battle, and occupies a distinctive place in Tchaikovsky's output as a ceremonial commemoration of Russia's defence against Napoleon's 1812 invasion.
