1812 Overture

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1812 Overture
Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Released 1880-08-20
Title Origin Official

The Year 1812, Festival Overture In E♭ Major, more commonly known as the 1812 Overture, is an overture written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate Russia's defense of its motherland against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée in 1812. The overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes, and brass fanfare finale.

Despite the song being written to celebrate the prowess of the Russian military, the song is often played during the USA's Independence Day. That's probably due to the war of 1812 between the USA and England, which the USA have won, so the title also fits for the USA, and festive nature of the song itself.

Games

Alien Ambush (A8)

Platform - A8.png
Alien Ambush (A8)
Arranger Unknown
Released 1982-??-??
Format SAP


The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea (ARC)

Platform - ARC.png
The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea (ARC)
Arranger Francisco Pflaum
Released 1982-??-??
Format UNK


Crystal Castles (ARC)

Platform - ARC.png
Crystal Castles (ARC)
Arranger Unknown
Released 1983-07-08
Format UNK

Used in Ending Screen.

Battlezone (A26)

Platform - A26.png
Battlezone (A26)
Arranger Michael Feinstein
Released 1983-??-??
Format UNK
Loops No

The song plays at the start of the game when you press Reset button. This is output to Television Interface Adaptor chip.

Crystal Castles (A26)

Platform - A26.png
Crystal Castles (A26)
Arranger Unknown
Released 1984-03-??
Format UNK

Used in Ending Screen.

Slinky (C64)

Platform - C64.png
Slinky (C64)
Arranger Paul Norman
Programmer Paul Norman
Released 1984-??-??
BPM 200
Format SID
Loops Yes

Plays twice to lively fireworks as soon as a level is completed.

The Class of 1812 (PBL)

Platform - PBL.png
The Class of 1812 (PBL)
Arranger David Zabriskie
Released 1991-08-??
Format UNK
Loops Yes

Used for multiball theme.

QBasic Nibbles (DOS)

Platform - DOS.png
QBasic Nibbles (DOS)
Output - PC Speaker.svg
QBasic Nibbles title screen.png
Arranger Unknown
Released 1991-??-??
Length 0:02.28
Format MML
Loops No

Two arrangements of the same brief excerpt of the 1812 Overture are played in Nibbles, using QuickBasic MML on the PC Speaker. The lower and slower one is played at the title screen (itself re-used in QBasic Gorillas (DOS)) using the following statement (spaces in quotes added by VGMPF for legibility):

PLAY "MB T160 O1 L8 C D E D C D L4 E C C"

The higher and faster one plays upon level start:

PLAY "T160 O1 > L20 C D E D C D L10 E C C"


QBasic Gorillas (DOS)

Platform - DOS.png
QBasic Gorillas (DOS)
Output - PC Speaker.svg
QBasic Gorillas - DOS - Title.png
Arranger Unknown
Released 1991-??-??
Length 0:02.28
Format MML
Loops No

A brief excerpt of the 1812 Overture is played at the title screen of QBasic Gorillas. The song was programmed using the MML of Quick BASIC's PLAY command and extracted from the source code. The song can be replayed with the following BASIC command:

PLAY "MB T160 O1 L8 C D E D C D L4 E C C"

The short tune is played through the PC Speaker.

Asterix and the Power of the Gods (SMD)

Platform - SMD.png
Asterix and the Power of the Gods (SMD)
Output - OPL3.svg
Arranger Nathan McCree
Released 1995-??-??
Format VGM


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