Much has been written about the relevance of tradition, or lack thereof. It's a common story: People keep following the same traditions, year after year, until the original reason for it is lost in the obscurity of the past. My favorite example of this is the (probably apocryphal) story of the Guru's Cat. In this story, a guru found a stray cat and took it into his home. Every day, the guru preformed a certain ritual, but quickly found that the new cat was going to be a problem; his incessant meowing during the ritual was too distracting. The guru solved the problem by adding a prerequisite step to his ritual: Taking the cat outside and tying it to a tree.
All went well for several years, until the old guru fell sick and died. A new guru took his place, and, like his predecessor, dutifully took the cat out and tied it to the tree every day before beginning the ritual. Not long afterwards, the cat died. In order to be faithful to tradition, the new guru immediately went out and got a new cat, so he would have something to tie to the tree before the ritual!
What has this got to do with the 1812 Overture? Well, the story happened to come to mind when I saw the annual Boston Pops performance of the 1812 Overture at their 4th of July concert. My first exposure to this work was about twenty years earlier in this exact same venue, a televised Boston Pops concert on the 4th of July. Like many listeners, I had no idea what the work was about. I assumed it had something to do with the War of 1812, and wondered why such a relatively insignificant conflict was honored every year in concert on Independence Day.
As I learned more about music in general and Tchaikovsky in particular, the picture became clearer. The overture was written not to commemorate the War of 1812, which was of little interest to the Russian composer, but to the pivotal battle in 1812 between Napoleon's French troops and the Russians, who were defending their homeland from French occupation. Napoleon expected an easy victory, but was sent back to Paris with a good, old-fashioned butt-whuppin. The overture was commissioned to celebrate this great victory many years later, and Tchaikovsky, although somewhat less than enthusiastic about this project, created one of his most popular works as a result. Much of the thematic material was taken from Russian folk songs, as well as the national anthems of the two warring nations.
All of which begs the question: Why is this piece played every year on the 4th of July in the United States? I'm sure there is a very good reason, but it was as lost on me as it was on the very enthusiastic crowd I saw on television, most of which, I'm sure, had no clue as to the historical significance of the work. Judging by their whooping, hollering, and flag-waving behavior, I would guess that the beer vendors in Boston did pretty good business that night. Be that as it may, my knowledge of the 1812 Overture, juxtaposed with what I was seeing on the TV screen, left me feeling as bewildered as a Martian watching his first football game.
First of all, the cheering and flag-waving reached a crescendo every time a Recognizable Tune was heard-- namely, the French Marseillaise and the Russian Tsarist national anthem. Why, you may ask, would the national anthems of two quite foreign nations evoke such a strong, pro-American surge of patriotism? It beats the living daylights out of me. The only thing I could imagine that could have been running through the audience's collective head, was: "Thank GOD, the boring part's over, and here's a part we recognize!" But is this enough to inspire patriotic feelings toward America? I guess so, with the right kind of beverage...
Next, the overture came to the famous part where the French Marseillaise is drowned out by the Russian cannons, signifying Napoleon's defeat. As this exact thought was running through my head, the camera angle switched to show the cannons themselves, emblazoned clearly with the words "US ARMY". I'm sorry, but I think the US Army was a little too busy in 1812 to be involved in this particular conflict, not to mention on the wrong side of the planet.
All in all, I think the 1812 Overture is a terrific piece of music, and especially exhilarating if viewed in its proper historical context. It is difficult to do so, however, while watching American flags waving in response to a performance of this piece. This type of behavior is a classic example of the Guru's Cat; a tradition that is doggedly adhered to without any concern for its relevance. Playing the 1812 Overture on America's birthday is an ongoing tradition that everyone welcomes, but almost no one understands.