This may not mean much to most but I still need to make the point. A bit ago, someone was most emphatic about Tchaikovski being the first to incorporate cannon into a musical composition. I thought, at the time, the statement was erroneous but passed on to something else. The question kept nagging at me and I finally did the proper research. It seems my favorite classical composer antedated Tchaikovski by 67 years. Beethoven composed, and directed the first performance, in 1813 to commemorate Wellington's victory at Vitoria, Spain in the Peninsular campaign. Tchaikovski's 1812 was not until 1880.