MOVED TO TEARS
"You cannot, sir, take from me anything
that I will more willingly part withal – except my life, except my life, except
my life."
1st
movement: Vivace
Busking
A young busker
entertains a subte audience by playing a little-known percussion instrument,
called a hang drum, developed in Switzerland at the turn of the
millennium. All are entranced, but one man in particular is moved more than
most. When the busker finishes, he walks along the aisle seeking remuneration for
his art. Some give a little before he reaches the moved man, who empties his
pockets, then his wallet and goes on to look in his bag for further funds until
he has no more money left to give. The busker, along with the travelling
public, is stunned as the man then proceeds to strip, giving literally
everything he has to the busker, except his body, except his sorrow, except his
life. The moved man then takes his leave, and trudges off into the night.
2nd movement:
Grave
Bridge
A crying
man stands on the edge of a bridge, poised to jump, when a young busker descries
him and quickly starts to play his instrument, a hang drum. The crying man
stops and decries him, moved.