# 1812 Overture for the 4th? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098 "2005-07-05T02:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/1 "2005-07-05T02:49:53Z")
WRONG WRONG WRONG! Why in the hell do the planners for 4th of July concerts insist on this piece? \*Uhhh, dude it’s got 'splosions, so it’s like perfect for us. - I’m watching the fireworks show from WASHINGTON DC and they play THIS! Why don’t we just play that song from Apocolypse Now. Dunt da-da Daaa Dunt Dunt da-da Daaa Dunt. Or maybe Russian Sailor Dance. Hell, if you don’t know what to play, just play some John Williams movie themes. Yes the USofA was involved in a little tiff in 1812 but the 1812 Overture is NOT about that. It’s about the Russians turning back Napoleon. What I want to know is wether they singing God Save the Tsar or was the chorus singing the commie substition? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/2 "2005-07-05T02:56:05Z")
It’s all about the _ **BOOM!** _ ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/3 "2005-07-05T03:00:57Z")
Who gives a shit what it’s “about?” It’s an awesome song and it’s got gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/4 "2005-07-05T03:10:06Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Uhhh, dude it’s got 'splosions, so it’s like perfect for us. Just to make sure you don’t think we’re not taking your question seriously, I really do think this (what you posted yourself in the OP) is the reason for the song. How many other songs feature artillary as a musical instrument?\* \*I now sit and wait for the music history expert Dopers to tell me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/5 "2005-07-05T03:17:27Z")
Many of my day deams are set to music that has cannon fire. Plus, maybe they could play some American composers? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/6 "2005-07-05T03:21:01Z")
I was just thinking this while watching the Philly fireworks show. Did we get our Yankee arses handed to us during the War of 1812? By a bunch of frickin’ Canucks for that matter! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/7 "2005-07-05T03:24:12Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > I was just thinking this while watching the Philly fireworks show. Did we get our Yankee arses handed to us during the War of 1812? By a bunch of frickin’ Canucks for that matter! I’m pretty sure we won that one in the end. You know, it’s like a wrassling match. The evil wrestler has got to get some good hits in first, then we knock 'em down and climb up to the top rope for our finishing move. ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/8 "2005-07-05T03:52:23Z")
Because the July 4th concert is about the only outdoor concert the orchestra will play all year, and that makes it the perfect candidate for the 1812 and its cannons. Yes, it’s Russian patriotic music, but it fits well with fireworks and is utterly awesome, so be happy. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/9 "2005-07-05T04:10:45Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > How many other songs feature artillary as a musical instrument? **For Those About to Rock** by ACDC. Not in the same genre, though. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/10 "2005-07-05T04:28:00Z")
A number of years ago, the Boston Pop Orchestra (who also plays the 1812 Overture for the 4th) commissioned musicalologist Professor Peter Schickele (USNDaH) to do find something along the lines of the 1812 piece, only American. The good professor responded by unearthing the _1712 Overture_, for really big orchestra, composed by P.D.Q. Bach. Give a listen, it is a fabulous piece, even quotes a simple American melody written about the then-famous German immigrant, Dieter Dudel. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/11 "2005-07-05T05:17:09Z")
> [@Julius Henry](#): > > The good professor responded by unearthing the _1712 Overture_, for really big orchestra, composed by P.D.Q. Bach. Was that written during his Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, or Contrition? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/12 "2005-07-05T06:46:38Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > I was just thinking this while watching the Philly fireworks show. Did we get our Yankee arses handed to us during the War of 1812? By a bunch of frickin’ Canucks for that matter! Those of you who don’t have it yet **need** to get your hands on “The War of 1812” by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie for a, ah, uniquely Canadian perspective on this question… ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/13 "2005-07-05T07:07:54Z")
> [@Julius Henry](#): > > A number of years ago, the Boston Pop Orchestra (who also plays the 1812 Overture for the 4th) commissioned musicalologist Professor Peter Schickele (USNDaH) to do find something along the lines of the 1812 piece, only American. The good professor responded by unearthing the _1712 Overture_, for really big orchestra, composed by P.D.Q. Bach. Give a listen, it is a fabulous piece, even quotes a simple American melody written about the then-famous German immigrant, Dieter Dudel. :eyes glaze: Does it got 'splosions, or don’t it? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/14 "2005-07-05T07:30:11Z")
Unless I’m totally deaf, the Pops didn’t play it tonight. I heard Aerosmith and U2 but no 1812. This is the first time in my life that I didn’t hear it. I really missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/15 "2005-07-05T07:47:15Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > How many other songs feature artillary as a musical instrument? Beethoven’s [Wellington’s Victory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington's_Victory) commemorates The Duke of Wellington’s victory over the French (them again!) at the Battle of Vitoria, Spain, in 1813. It’s usually performed with simulated muskets at minimum, and [this recording](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000057MW/002-8082185-7573643?v=glance): > [@](#): > > is played by the London Symphony Orchestra with a pair of 6-pound cannon and a 12- pound howitzer, along with French and British muskets, also courtesy of West Point. Apparently, Liszt’s _Battle of the Huns_ (with which I am not familiar) is ranked with the _1812_ and _Wellington’s Victory_ in the list of “battle pieces”, so it may have artilery as well. Of course, none of the above have the slightest relevance to events in the US, except to the extent that native British troops in the North American “War of 1812” were very much second-stringers due to the rather more immediate events going on in Europe at the time. Most of the so-called “British” troops in that conflict were Canadian militia – and I do not wish to imply that _they_ were the “B team”. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/16 "2005-07-05T09:20:04Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > :eyes glaze: > > Does it got 'splosions, or don’t it? 😃 In a way, but they’re not quite as impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/17 "2005-07-05T10:30:39Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > :eyes glaze: > > Does it got 'splosions, or don’t it? > [@Smeghead](#): > > 😃 > > In a way, but they’re not quite as impressive. The CD comes with a warning not to play them too loud so you don’t damage your speakers, I’d call \*that \* impressive. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/18 "2005-07-05T11:14:00Z")
No reason not to play “Yankee Doodle” with 'splosions. ::: singing, in the key of Gunpowder Major :::: Yankee Doodle, keep it up BLAM! Yankee BLAM Doodle BLAM Dandy RATATATATA etc ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/19 "2005-07-05T13:21:29Z")
In my college marching band we played the theme song to the '70’s detective show Cannon, and we used a cannon therein. (A small one – it fired blanks that were a little bigger than shotgun shells.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098/20 "2005-07-05T15:12:51Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > :eyes glaze: > > Does it got 'splosions, or don’t it? My recording makes them sound more like a cap gun. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1812-overture-for-the-4th/311098.md?page=2)