Part one consists of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" performed on a cello, accompanied only by a picked electric guitar and a flute in round. After a short ritard, part two abruptly begins, with " Shchedryk " recognizable in the English-speaking world as the melody from " Carol of the Bells " being played at full volume, full orchestration and the synthesizers and electric guitars taking lead melody, with bells joining periodically to play a portion of the melody from "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen".
The time signature also abruptly shifts from cut time to a driving triple meter , which persists through the rest of the piece. After a short transition, the third section consists of a piano solo, featuring motifs from both melodies being played simultaneously, with light string backing that builds through the section.
The transition to the fourth and final section is again abrupt; the final section closely resembles the second, with "Shchedryk" being the central melody, again led by guitar and synthesizer with piano added. The coda consists of backing strings continuing softly after the fourth section ends, fading to a close. We heard about this cello player born in Sarajevo many years ago who left when he was fairly young to go on to become a well-respected musician, playing with various symphonies throughout Europe.
Many decades later, he returned to Sarajevo as an elderly manβat the height of the Bosnian War , only to find his city in complete ruins.
I think what most broke this man's heart was that the destruction was not done by some outside invader or natural disasterβit was done by his own people. At that time, Serbs were shelling Sarajevo every night. Rather than head for the bomb shelters like his family and neighbors, this man went to the town square, climbed onto a pile of rubble that had once been the fountain, took out his cello, and played Mozart and Beethoven as the city was bombed.
