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Happy Independence Day
“On the day of his [John Adams’s] death, hearing the noise of bells and cannon, he asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was ‘Independent Day,’ he replied, ‘Independence forever.’” — Daniel Webster.
Here, Seji Ozawa leading the Berlin Philharmonic in Peter Ilya Tchaikovsky’s Festival Overture: The Year 1812 at a 1993 summer concert at the Waldbuhne in Berlin. The work celebrates the Russian repulsion of Napoleon’s army at the Battle of Borodino. For several decades it has been a July Fourth staple, and politically at least there is no reason it ought not to be.
N.B. One of Dartmouth’s most accomplished sons, Erich Kunzel ‘57 of the Cincinnati Philharmonic, was among the first composers to present Tchaikovsky’s work with punctual cannon as prescribed by the score. The composer himself was unable to secure accordance to fire the guns, and most early 20th century performance featured random or incomplete artillery shots. Kunzel’s record of 1812 on Telarc is, in my opinion, the finest recorded specimen of the work.
Featured posts
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October 18, 2009
When Love Beckoned in 52nd Street
We were at San Francisco’s BIX last evening, enjoying prosecco, cheese, and a bit of music. A full year of inhabitation in Northern California has unraveled to me no decent venue for proper lounging, but… -
October 9, 2009
D Afraid of a Little Competish
So our colleague and Dartblog writer Joe Asch informed me that the D has rejected our cunning advertising campaign. Uh-oh. The Dartmouth is widely known as a breeding ground for instant New York Times successes,… -
September 4, 2009
How Regents Should Reign
As Dartmouth alumni proceed through the legal hoops necessary to defuse a Board-packing plan—which put in unhappy desuetude an historic 1891 Agreement between alumni and the College guaranteeing a half-democratically-elected Board of Trustees—it strikes one… -
August 29, 2009
Election Reform Study Committee
If you are an alum of the College on the Hill, you may have received a number of e-mails of late beseeching your input for a new arm of the College’s Alumni Control Apparatus called… -
August 23, 2009
Fare Thee Well, Tom Crady
And now Dean Tom Crady has precipitously announced his departure from the College after only 20 months on the job. How to read this? By way of background, prior to coming to Dartmouth, Crady had… -
May 31, 2009
Kangaroo Court, Indeed
In an interview with The Dartmouth, alumni-elected trustee T.J. Rodgers ‘70 explained his reasons for declining to participate in future evaluations of trustees up for “re-election,” namely the “kangaroo court” nature of such discussion in…