Lark Descending! Now 1812’s our top classical piece

VERY loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit.

It sounds like a brutal verdict from Simon Cowell on some wannabe’s musical efforts.

In fact, it’s Tchaikovsky’s own assessment of his 1812 Overture – which was yesterday revealed as the UK’s favourite piece of classical music.

It came first in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2018, knocking Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending off the top spot.

Each year, more than 120,000 votes are cast to determine the nation’s 300 most popular classical works.

The concert overture, written in 1880 by the Russian composer, moved up five places from 2017.

Classic FM presenter John Suchet said: ‘It’s such a great showpiece. It starts quite gently … and there’s no hint that by the end there’s going to be fireworks and cannon.’ While the 1812 Overture is now Tchaikovsky’s single most popular piece, the composer didn’t count it as a personal favourite.

In 1880, he was commissioned to write a piece of music to be performed at the opening of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It was the last thing the composer wanted to do; he was trying to get over a disastrous marriage and hated writing music to order. He composed the piece in six weeks and wrote to a friend afterwards: ‘There will probably be no artistic merits in it.’

‘I’d stand back. He likes to make a bit of a thing of it...’