Gripe gripe gripe

[rhu]

Does anyone play the complete 1812 Overture any more? It's bad enough that we celebrate our independence from Great Britian by performing a work written to celebrate the Russians' victory over France, but at least play the whole dang thing! (We just watched the concert from Washington D.C. and they abridged it; Boston's been abridging it since CBS took over and ruined everything.)

Update. I just switched over to channel 4, and it appears that this year Boston is playing the whole thing before the switch to national coverage. Good for them.

Comments

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

Nope, they really do ring real church bells.

Change Ringing at The Church of the Advent (http://www.theadvent.org/parilife/bells.htm):

" They have rung out -- Arthur Fiedler said gloriously -- for holidays as well as the weekly service ever since. The Advent's bells have the unique distinction of being heard throughout the United States every Independence Day during the national television broadcast of the Boston Pops' annual Fourth of July concert, where they participate in the performance of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture.'"

I found some other references to "near-by church bells," so, WHEE, real church bells!