BLOODY SUNDAY

I thought I'd try something very different than what I've been doing thus far. I was in a kind of violent mood and I got thinking of a particular symphony I once heard by Shostakovich about the 'Bloody Sunday' events of 1905 in Russia.

It was January 22, 1905. A large group of peaceful protestors (some 300,000) led by a priest, Father Gapon went to deliver a petition to Tsar Nicholas II at the Winter Palace about strikes going on all over Russia for workers' rights. They were gunned down in cold blood by the Imperial Guard without any warning. About 4,000 people died that day.

It is a fascinating and chilling thing to hear, but I highly recommend listening to it once. It gives one an appreciation for what we have in the United States.

It starts out quietly with a kind of march—slow and mournful with an almost menacing melody in the background. Trumpets sound a warning tocsin. Strings pulse, kettle drums throb. Flutes play an innocent tragic tune. This carries on for a while to build the unease and tension. You know something terrible is coming.

In the second movement the trumpets build, drums pound. The guards are approaching and still the people march on unaware. Then everything builds to an uncomfortable point of unease and foreboding.

To hear this for yourself go to

www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lYSvg6BUE&feature=related