1812 And All That

In the course of our recent sojourn in KL I picked up three cheapo cheapo mags at the little shop we go to to pick up cheapo cheapo mags. (The Missus got three as well.) It's very unpredictable as to what they have to suit my tastes. At one time it was copies of The Word. Then Progressive Rock, if I've got the right name for that one. On my last visit I got a copy of Mojo, a copy of The Wire and a copy of Classic FM Magazine, all from last year, at knock down prices.

The copies of Mojo and the classical mag both came with free CDs and, true to my cheapskate instincts, the freebies did factor into my buying. In the case of Mojo they gave away a collection of various bands re-doing a New Order album of the early eighties - not my usual cup of tea, but worth a spin or two to keep in touch with the electronic side of things. The Classic FM offering was a 2 CD set of  'pops' by Tchaikovsky, and that struck me as a rather jolly thing to have. I love The Nutcracker in any version but what really tickled my fancy was a version of The 1812 Overture.

You see, it's a strange thing but I can't recall listening to the piece in its entirety since I was ten, and I felt I just had to listen again. When I was ten the 1812 represented the very height of expression in music. I know because my classmates and myself had to 'move' to it on more than one occasion in lessons which, if I'm not wrong, were known as Music and Movement and rather fashionable in educational circles at the time. Unusually for a fashionable idea in education this one was also a good idea, as the utter absorption of my class in the wonderful noise made perfectly clear to us. Mind you, I'm not convinced that those looking on as we expressed the feelings of Russian patriots in driving the French from the motherland would have all agreed.

Anyway I listened again and the overture fell well short of its original magic - though it is great fun and should be compulsory listening for all ten-year-olds in all classrooms throughout the world.