Musical Mismatch
Who cares if a popular 4th of July tune has nothing to do with America?
'The 1812 Overture': Music for July 4th?
07/03/08: An excerpt from the 'The 1812 Overture.'
Nearly one million people gather annually on the Charles River Esplanade every 4th of July for the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. The event, one of the country's biggest Independence Day celebrations, reaches millions more via national television broadcast. During its 35 year run the event had changed, but one tradition remains: its grand fireworks finale is always accompanied by "The 1812 Overture." Intermingling marching tunes, patriotic anthems and cannon fire, the musical piece has become a trademark melody at Independence Day celebrations across the United States. There's only one catch: the symphony celebrates a Russian victory, not an American one.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky composed the score in 1880 as a tribute to the Russian victory over Napoleon. Yes, that happened in 1812, but it has nothing to do with America's War of 1812. About fifteen minutes long, the piece retells the story of Napoleon's invasion. It begins with solemn chants recalling the invasion and capture of Moscow, proceeds to rise in volume and instrumental drama as the music imitates the battle between the armies, and concludes with celebratory cannon fire to signal the Russians' declared victory at Napoleon's retreat.
Given its historical context, the 1812 overture seems peculiar accompaniment for an American holiday. So how did the song find its way into American celebrations?
"I think it's our fault," says Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops since 1984. The popularity of the song skyrocketed after the Pops' first televised 4th of July event in 1976, Lockhart says. Since then, many Americans have come to associate the tune with the 4th and, thus, with American patriotism.
Cultural misappropriation was never the intention. Arthur Fiedler, the Pops conductor at the time, chose the overture simply because the event's organizer, Boston grocery mogul David Mugar, told him that a loud and flashy display might attract bigger crowds to the performance. Mugar, who still produces the event, recalls telling Fiedler that the cannons and fireworks probably would not coincide perfectly with the symphony. The conductor replied: "It's fine, as long as all hell breaks loose."
Mugar said the Tchaikovsky rendition was a huge hit and helped them draw an audience of 50,000 that year. "We then decided, 'Hey, let's do it one more year," Mugar says. The Pops have performed the overture every year since, accompanied by the big guns provided by the Massachusetts Nationoal Guard. Major Peter Fiorentino is the officer of the 101st field artillery unit charge of firing the 16 cannon rounds during the overture. Ever since Fielder asked for the unit's assistance with the performance, Fiorentino said, his soldiers have found a way to show up, even through deployments. "It has become our tradition over time," he said.
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Member Comments
Posted By: tkjer @ 07/07/2008 10:06:38 AM
Comment: I think 1812's popularity in American culture owes much to the Quaker Oats TV ads that aired in the 1960s and used one of the the themes while puffed oats and rice were shot out of cannons to the music.
Posted By: Galasso @ 07/07/2008 7:36:32 AM
Comment: This is the wrong venue for this subject. You did the same thing on the article on the GI Bill and posted something totally irrelevant to the article. I think you must be like one of those people who walk around Time Square with signs front and back that say the world is coming to an end. No one reads these long boring posts.
Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:24:46 PM
Comment: Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.
So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.
Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?
Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.
So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.
McCain's plan SUCKS.
It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.