Loadstar 207/207.d81/t.1812overture

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 5KB | 189 lines

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  T H E   1 8 1 2   O V E R T U R E
     by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

  SID Transcription by Dave Marquis
          Art by Walt Harned
   Cobbled together by Dave Moorman


    I have loved the 1812 Overture
since Mickey Frownfelter played a
recording of it for me when I was 13
years old. I got my own LP, and soon
had memorized it beat for beat and
note for note.

    The piece is too long to be played
as an ordinary SID Tune. So I linked
the four parts together and added a
multi- color artwork.

    Keep in mind, this is a symphony.
I have the piano sheet music, and at
least six notes are playing at any
given moment. Dave Marquis did a
marvelous job of finding just the
right three notes for this SID
rendition.

    You can, if you like, press <Q> to
exit the concert. Otherwise, relax and
enjoy. Below is a PONDERATIONS
reprinted from eLOADSTAR 007 to give
you something to think about as you
listen to the music.



             PONDERATIONS
           By Dave Moorman

          from eLOADSTAR 007


 "Ye sons of France awake to glory..."

    Who doesn't know the resounding
opening bars of the Marseilles Hymn?

    Evidently, a lot of people --
judging by the spontaneous cheers in
Boston as the Pops played the [1812]
[Overture] as the finale of their
Independence Day concert.

    But before we get into that, I
need to share with you some stuff I
have been pondering about: Mythic
Structures and the birth of myth.
First off, "myth" does not mean
"false," or "superstition." Nor is it
relegated to stories about Venus and
Jupiter. These ideas are part of the
"Scientific Mythic Structure."

    (I must add that this leads to the
strange tautology that since Science
negates myth, Science has no Mythic
Structure -- which leads to the
conceit that Science has All the
Truth!)

    A myth is a story a people tell
each other to express the truth that
will not be imprisoned with facts. I
have been comparing the recently
declassified information about Roswell
and Area 51 with the proclamations of
UFOlogists. We are witnessing myth in
the making, as particulars of several
incidents are shifted and sifted into
something far beyond mundane facts.

    This is especially interesting to
me because the forty-year time lag
between the Roswell event and
established mythic stories is about
the same as the time between the
events of the historic Jesus of
Nazareth and the writing of the gospel
narratives. Myths can be based on some
historical, factual occurrence. But in
the process of being told and retold,
they become vessels for a shared
dream, a shared cultural meaning. They
begin to carry themes and sub-themes
about how reality works and why.

    Every culture has an unspoken
structure which it imposes on reality.
It is evident in language -- what can
or cannot be said -- and in definitive
stories of heroes and gods. The only
way to speak about the unspoken is
through stories. That's why I call it
"Mythic Structure."

    In the cheers for the triumphant
fanfare repeating throughout the 1812
Overture, we are seeing the
development of another mythic
structure.

    You see -- there were [two] Wars
of 1812. One was a war where Britain
tried to put the screws to a bunch of
traitorous colonists. These upstarts
thought that just because they were
situated on a vast and richly endowed
continent, they could become an
independent nation. Even though the
star-spangled banner still waved by
the dawn's early light, the infant
United States did [not] really win
anything during this War of 1812. The
only clear victory for the US (at New
Orleans) happened months after the
peace treaty was signed in Europe.

    The [other] War of 1812 was
Napoleon's ill-considered invasion of
Russia. Moscow is a long way from
Paris. What troops did not succumb to
disease were laid low by Russia's
harsh winter. When the Russians broke
out of the Siege of Moscow, they
fairly beat the pants off Napoleon.

    And [this] is the War of 1812
Pyotir Tchaikowsky immortalized in the
1812 Overture. The music opens with
the hallowed phrases of the (Czarist)
Russian National Hymn. Then -- from a
distance comes the ratatat of drums.
The opening fanfare of the Marsailees
Hymn (the Revolutionary French
National Anthem) breaks forth:

 "Ye sons of France awake to Glo-r-y!"

    The battle rages, as the two
songs are intertwined. Russia
retreats into a haunting melody,
which seguays to a dance in a
palatial Czarist ballroom. The French
attack again and again -- in a rising
crescendo -- until they are bombarding
Moscow. But suddenly the battle turns.
Musical quarterlets tumble down the
scale as the invaders are routed. And
the Russian Hymn marches forth with
measured determination that breaks
forth into wild, bell-ringing,
celebration.

    The 1812 Overture is a great
piece (my first and forever love
among classical compositions) that
becomes a stunning experience when
the shock waves of [real] cannon
blasts engulf the audience during a
live, outdoor performance. Top it off
with some rocket's red glare and
bombs bursting in air, and you've
got, like, a seriously awesome Fourth
of July happening!!

    Which is the reason the Pops (and
almost everybody) does it now. And
this is the reason for the cheers:
cheers for the vanquished side in the
[other] War of 1812. But that doesn't
matter. Facts are lost to a greater,
experienced truth: a mythic symbol of
patriotic pride.

 DMM