...and write about what the piece means to me, what I feel/think/see/etc. when I listen to it. I only did the first movement, since I did not want to go into this kind of detail for the rest of 'em.
So, here it is:
The initial beats are lighting and thunder, which start a down pour upon a wounded man lying upon a battlefield filled with corpses. After the rain begins, he has flash backs about everything that brought him to this point. The following “creeping” feeling of the orchestra is the man remembering the events coming together for the war he is now in. The bridge begins the memory of the events which brought the redcoats to the very steps of the man’s plantation; ending with pistol aimed at his face and all his property burning.
Beginning on theme one, the man remembers even farther back, before the ball, when he took his wife to a ball. The sounds of the violins are the man remembering slowly dancing in a beautiful hall before the war. When things pick up to the happier, faster paced tune, he is remembering more and more of the fast paced, carefree dance. Not long after those events though, the man begins to cycle through other events that lead to where he is now. As the Exposition repeats, he goes through a similar cycle of memories; from the events leading to the war, the burning of his plantation and killing of part of his family, to the times before the war.
The near confusion in the Development is the man being swarmed with different memories. From his anger that made him join the war, to those happy times before the war. His memory jumped from dances, to tired marching, to happy evenings with his family, to confused battles. Memories of pain, hunger, happiness, and sadness seem to attack him at once.
The Recapitulation is the very passionately angry memories of the man seeing the destruction of his plantation. With the quiet and slow oboe solo, the man remembers crying as he held his wife’s lifeless corpse in his arms, as the soldiers marched off with all his possessions burning.
The following crescendo for the bridge is the memory of sadness turning into anger and hate for the man. He remembers setting his wife’s body down, standing up and watching as the redcoats marched away. With the trumpet blasts the man is brought once again to the memories before the war; including the last dance he had. He had brought his whole family to an extravagant ball as one final time to have carefree fun before the fighting began. His memories begin once again with the slow, blissful dancing as he sees his wife smiling face. Memories of the dance speeding up and becoming more intense come along with the crescendo of the music, until he is spinning quickly and carefree with his wife in his arms, with his sons and daughters surrounding him all dancing carefree as well.
With the Coda comes conflicting memories of that final dance and this last battle; the joy of his family, and the hate of his enemy. Images of his smiling wife and his smoking rifle flooded his mind. Memories come harder and faster, making the emotions in the man boil as he lay on the battlefield. Finally, as the orchestra switches to the darker tune, the man is left with just the memories of his hate. Marching, firing, reloading, watching as enemy soldiers fell, and the blood of allied soldiers splattered his face and clothes.
Memories slow down, but become more focused as he sees the soldier that killed his wife and family and ordered the burning of the plantation. The music builds and intensifies as the two fight towards each other, and a few longing memories appear to the man. The following deep, powerful notes known from theme one are the man and the soldier meeting on the field of combat. They fight hard, the man burning with anger and hate. Combat ends with the soldier firing his pistol and the man stabbing him with a bayonet in time with the powerful closing notes. Along with the sudden ending comes the man suddenly falling into unconsciousness, having remembered all the events that brought him to this point.
Excellent, just excellent!
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