Mikael Rasmusson wrote:

>...  The battle music is not so convincing, it sounds like the French
>are winning the battle (where are the russians?), but suddenly a beatiful
>cantabile theme appears.  After that the one-sided battle music returns
>briefly again rather unconvincingly only to be interrupted by the cantabile
>theme once again.  ...

Actually, I believe the French *did* "win" the battle and occupied Moscow,
which then caught fire.  Having totally outdistanced his supplies, and
fearing the impending winter, Napoleon decided to retreat or (as the
military people prefer to call it) "withdraw strategically to previously
prepared positions in the rear," in the course of which the French were cut
to tatters by Russian harrassing attacks.

Perhaps, w/ that in mind, Tchaikowsky chose not to have his overture
describe a military defeat of the French by the Russians but instead
a survival by the Russians of a bootless French incursion.

Walter Meyer