...During a 'turn' with the Tuchuk.
There is a festival, children running around, holding skewers of roasted bosk...then, all turn somber as they give honor to the departed. Finally, the 1st Oralu returns after repelling 3 oralus of 'southerners'...and ALL of Tuchuk rejoice.
I just LOVE this work...Respigi knew how to write...and...yes...I have performed this work several times...twice as Principal Cello. The muscles in my low back would really tense up during the 2nd movement...the cello part was simple...but repeating the phrase over and over again...the VERY EERIE phrase really GOT to me. It is very powerful, for some reason...my mind would be racing as we played...imagining heroic situations. The last movement is very powerful...you do hear a Roman Legion marching back to Rome. At first, just the distant sound of the drums...and then the bugles...and then the people welcoming them.
It is also the LOUDEST work I have ever played...at the end...I would actually see kids in the front row holding their hands over their ears.
Please enjoy...
https://youtu.be/IvgyfqzLC0AOh, a postscript...*JDL*...The birds singing in the 3rd movement is usually a recording. But, once, during a rehearsal...the trombone players brought in 'duck calls'. It REALLY broke the mood of that movement.
