This turns out to be another one of those pieces that's hard-wired into everyone's neural structure, because of over-playing. My earliest memory of the piece goes back to a 1960's television commercial for the cereal, Quaker Puffed Rice. The ending of the Overture blared in the background as canons exploded, showering the screen with the puffed cereal. The clever copywriters had penned these memorable lyrics: "This is the cereal that's shot from guns. This is the cereal that's shot from guns. Quaker Puffed Rice!" which scans perfectly.

Nowadays you can't go to an Independence Day concert, without the orchestra playing it. What's more, a kind of 1812 Overture arms race has begun as people found the kettle drums lacking sufficient "oomph." You can now hire a company that will set up a row of computer-controlled mortars, which the percussionist can percuss in perfect cadence with the music. I have also heard of towns making deals with the Army artillery to actually set off real Howitzer canons at the end of the piece.

I must admit that as a boy, those bursting canons did fascinate me. When I first heard the entire piece, though, I was surprised to find that the canons only occur at the end. Before that, Tchaikowski effectively captured the worry of Napoleon's campaign, the rallying of the Russian people, and the terror of battle. This music evokes vivid images and that too might be a reason for its continued popularity. Even among boys.

Before my daughters were born, I came down on the side of nurture in the "nature versus nurture debate." To prove the case, I tried to capture my daughters' interests with non-sexist toys, book, and games. My oldest daughter went through a strong tom boy phase, which I believed proved the case. Yet as puberty approaches she's starting to show interests in boy singing groups. And she wants to go into veterinarian school to continue her goal of caring for abused and neglected animals. My youngest daughter�raised in the exact same environment�has never veered from her love of dolls, crafts, and I shudder to admit, Martha Stewart. They both raised their eyebrows several years back when I brought home a used race car set from a garage sale. I stopped the experiment when I realized they were drawing the wrong conclusion: one day I overheard Claire�the oldest�say to my wife that she thought that I must have really wanted a son.

Still, this summer, at an Independence Day concert in front of town hall, they were excited to find out that the orchestra would perform The 1812 Orchestra that evening. Claire got a kick out when I suggested we go watch the computer-controlled mortars. We both laughed when they went off and nearly scared both of us out of our skin. Hmm. I wonder if she'd like to try bunjee-jumping.

Tchaikowski page with MIDI files
Recording This one by Bernstein ought to be nice and showy.

Enjoy
top