It started with the occasional busker.
Upturned fedoras with a few coins shining against the velvety lining. No great movement at first. It was pleasant to hear Bach floating through the thoroughfares while folks ran errands. A little Vivaldi ear candy here and there. Splendid overtures of audible opulence. But soon, territories were claimed, and rivalries sprouted. Street corner duels of bravura became commonplace. It all came to a crescendo when Mahler’s Maulers and The Bach Breakers squared off in an allegro of aggression that was aptly appointed the “Bellicoso Vivace”. The pavement was besieged with the bodies of fiddle fatalities and ragged catgut.
The city is quiet these days. The reign of the Maestros of Mayhem is but a memory. However, there has been some hullabaloo amongst the tuba community…
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Art: Justin Weingartner
Words: Peter Hammarberg
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