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I have always believed that in order to successfully play music one has to feel it emotionally. And the best way to do this is to think of the story you're telling. Well, we all know that this season's closing piece, "March to the Scaffold", has a story. Something about a guy being on an opium trip and thinking he's about to be publically executed. He pleads with the executioner not to cut off his head, but he does. Luckily, it was all a dream.
Our opener, "Of Dark Lords and Ancient Kings" is a more modern piece and does not have a story (that we know of) that goes along with it. So Jeff Kohl and I put together the following as the story that the opener tells. If you know the piece (or remember in years to come) try singing along with what you read, it really makes sense!
The 7/8 bar is when we actually arrive in medieval Europe.
The piccolo/clarinet legato section is where we are wandering through the forest in the fog (or mist, whatever). It is an overcast kinda day.
When the main theme first plays, we come across two knights fighting in the middle of the woods.
The trumpet solo is the lovely princess on her balcony of her castle. She is dreamily thinking of the "good knight" who is her one true love.
The piccolo 8th notes when the tempo picks up is the messenger running from the fight to inform the princess that her love is in danger.
The main theme (played by the trumpets) is the fight continuing.
The legato sax/piccolo part represents the messenger and the princess running through the woods to find the fight.
The crescendo back into the main theme brings us into the clearing where the fight is.
The main theme is more fighting.
The crescendo into the drum break is when the good knight has the bad knight on the ground and he is holding his (the good knight's) sword to his (the bad knight's) head.
The drum break symbolizes the good knight returning with the princess to the castle to celebrate the victory.
The mallet solo (or duet, actually) is the celebration for the victory. There's music and dancing, and funny poses too!
The trombone solo is when the knight and the princess leave the party and go off by themselves. They go into a big, medieval garden with flowers and shrubs and stone statues.
The part in between the solo and the press box is just the knight and the princess talking, flirting, whatever...sappy stuff.
The press box, being all majestic and filled with emotion and everything, is when the knight proposes to the princess. And this works too since the band leans back on the field, it's kinda like the knight getting down on one knee. ("Will you marry me, please, please, please, please?")
The soft part immediately following is where the princess says "yes".
When the main theme returns (but quieter, the mezzo forte portion) is the bad knight (who isn't dead because the good knight didn't kill him. That's why he's a good knight!) sneaking up on the couple. He's looking for revenge on his earlier loss.
The company front is when the bad knight suddenly emerges from the shrubbery, begins his attack on the good knight, while the princess screams. The fight, thus, begins.
The switch between 3/4 and 4/4 and 3/4 is the struggle of the fight. You see, first the bad knight has the upperhand, then the good knight, back to the bad knight, back to the good, and so on...
The retard/hold is when the bad knight has the good knight down on the ground and the sword to his throat (very similar to before) and laughs very evilly.
But luckily, at the a tempo, the good knight gets up, thus saving himself from an untimely death, and continues the fight.
The hold during the a tempo is, like before, another struggle between the two combatants.
The step off from this hold represents the good knight throwing the bad knight down again. Unfortunately for the bad knight he loses his sword. This means the good knight is victorious again!
The End!
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