Given that I just put a Lean Pocket on a plastic plate in my toaster oven, I would like to say, “Thank you” to all who helped me to live this weekend.
Jim Gaffigan would say that the Lean Pocket was the most dangerous part of the weekend.
Our survey takers agree that Jack Bauer is the most dangerous part of dinner.
And yes, anyone who grows close to Jack is either a traitor or is gonna die. I mean, look at the statistics.
Thanks again to Jeremy with the save on contact solution and children’s Tylenol.
While driving around this weekend (which, given my previous condition, is probably not wise) I’ve been listening to a lot of Tchaikovsky, specifically his Greatest Hits (Greatest Works? I don’t know…better than his Unplugged album). I remember playing the 1812 Overture in high school and loving it. (The quiet parts as well as the cannon parts.)
Another of my favorites from him is the Marche Slave. I’ll be honest, my first real exposure to the song was in one of the transition scenes in Karateka.
Karateka, grandfather of Prince of Persia and mispronounced by elementary school kids owning an Atari 7800
In it this weekend I heard some folk songs from other countries, but mainly I heard some themes from the 1812 Overture. Here’s the story: Tchai-guy wrote it in five days when his friend Nikolai Rubinstein asked for a song to honor volunteer soldiers killed/wounded fighting the Ottoman Empire in 1876. The whole bloodshed started when the Ottomans killed some Serbian Christians. The Russians felt a connection with their Slavic neighbors and volunteered to fight.
That explains why it has a funeral march sound at the beginning but then gets all crazy at the end (my oldest thought I had a new Star Wars soundtrack. She said, “It’s kinda loud, but I like it.”).
But what about some 1812 themes that show up in Marche Slave?
So, me being so proud of my non-American-centricness, thought that the 1812 Overture was about the War of 1812 (that’s a different song altogether (Vern, I think you’re familiar with this song)).
No, the 1812 Overture refers to the Russian defense of Borodino versus Napoleon’s army. It gave the little guy time to reconsider an invasion of Russia. The emphasis on the cannons in the song is because Napoleon showed up with roughly 1,200 pieces of heavy artillery.
Tsar Alexander I had commissioned the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to commemorate the French defeat. The cathedral was almost done and once again Nikolai Rubinstein showed up to challenge Tchaikovsky to write some music. The song was supposed to be performed when the cathedral was done. They had planned on the church bells ringing alongside cannons firing and musicians going crazy. But then Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and the performance never happened like Tchaikovsky wanted. It became a very popular song, though, with the Russian people and has been revised by different composers who added in more Russian folk music/anthems.
What blows me away is that Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture in six weeks.
But why the similar themes between Marche Slave and 1812? Russian soldiers whooping up. (I’m sure that’s what your notes say from Music History, right, Slade?)
Click here for a full orchestral score of Marche Slave.
Semi-related posts:
The only thing more dangerous than hanging out with Jack Bauer is marrying Worf.
What cracks me up on that Inktank link is the guy commenting, “Dude! Give me a spoiler alert!” Because Deep Space 9 is really recent, right?
And yes, three for three. Worf > Red Shirt
Wow, he’s up to season four of Next Generation? If you’re nearly twenty years behind on the story, you can’t expect spoiler warnings.
Don’t tell him about the movies!!!! Then he’ll get all screwed up.
Especially Star Trek V. What in the name of Spock’s brother was up with that?
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