Could our friend be referring perhaps to Beethoven's  "Wellington's
Victory," also called "The Battle of Victoria," which he composed
specifically for a musical automaton invented by J. N. Maelzel, who
also invented the metronome?

A hand-played piano version was published which called for live
cannon to be fired during the performance.  I heard this performed by
an orchestra recently, including the cannon and other non-orchestral
sound effects.

Larry Lobel
Virtuoso Piano Service
Petaluma, CA