Sousa, Tchaikovsky and Independence Day

ProetryPlace Blog 8:

Sousa, Tchaikovsky and Independence Day

    The only time I regret not having a surround sound system for our television is on July 4th when the Boston Pops lets loose with Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

    I used to play the 1812 on an old stereo system with a 33 1/3 rpm turntable and 12-inch speakers. I’d crank up the volume until the needle jumped tracks and the walls vibrated. Once, I saw a performance using real cannons and carillon as originally orchestrated. Rousing music, though I still thrill more to America’s own bandmaster ‘s Stars and Stripes with that hair raising piccolo run and blood-thumping build up to the “three cheers for the red, white and blue” musical phrase.

    Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 (in 1880) to commemorate Russia’s improbable victory over French invaders that year.  It may seem an unlikely choice to celebrate America’s independence that might not have been gained without help from the French. Our war for independence began in 1776 and ended with the victory of American and French forces over the British at Yorktown 5 ½ years later.

    Of course, we had our own problems with the British in 1812 when the young United States declared war to prove our independence again. Coincidentally, British invaders occupied our soil and burned our capitol, Washington D.C., in action reminiscent of the burning of Moscow in 1812. It was the Russians themselves, though, who torched their capitol to deny the invaders shelter and sustenance in winter.

    Important as it was to securing our nation’s independence and allowing for our expansion west of the Alleghenies, it’s not a war that gets equal billing with America’s other great wars fought in the name of freedom—The Revolution, The Civil War (The War of Northern Aggression in the South), WWI and WWII. It also produced our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” but didn't even get a decent name, just a year. At least no one should be confused about when it occurred.

    

Libertas, gift of the French People, 1886

    This July 4th we may watch our small town parade once again. My friend Tom, a WWII vet, will be riding on the Sons of the Revolution float. I’ll clean up the grill to char a few burgers and hot dogs for the grandkids and us adults. Later we will all go to watch the fireworks from our favorite spot at the Baptist Church parking lot if we don’t get rained out.

    And for a few moments as I flip a burger, swat a mosquito, discuss the sorry state of American politics or “ooh” or “aah” at the fireworks, I will give thanks for our amazing founding fathers and the American heroes who sacrificed all in all our wars for our freedom to enjoy this day.

Richard Allen Anderson     < : - )     ProetryPlace Blog     https://richardandersonblogs.blogspot.com