Searching for an Identity
Hamburg: Ragtime for the Observant Soul, Op.2 No.7
SM-000067808
- Alternative title
- Hamburg: Ragtime für die Aufmerksamen Seele
- Composer
- Antonio Martinez
- Publisher
- Antonio Martinez
- Genre
-
Classical
- Instrumentation
- Piano
- Scored for
- Solo
- Type of score
- For a single performer
- Duration
- 3'26"
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Year of composition
- 2011
Description
This is the seventh destination in the collection of the series "Ragtime at the Red Light District." This piece is set at Hamburg's Reeperbhan.
The main character in this piece is a 27-year old travel agent that often finds the most important places for people to visit in their lifetime. This person is travelling with close friends who, up to this point, enjoyed their time at Hamburg. Many activities the group did included crashing bachelor parties and weddings, while also watching Bundesliga matches at both Millerntor-Stadion and Volksparkstadion.
The main character sought to visit the one place he had dreamt of since his college days. With dusk rapidly coming, the main character power walked with friends and headed toward Herbertstraße and the city's "die sündige Meile" (German for "the sinful mile").
With the friends celebrating, partying, and even staying sober, the main character begins to vision a different scenario at the red-light district. The main character does not see happiness, but rather the sorrow and the tears on the many women's faces, most working without any dignity of self. The main character struggles to escape these urges and fantasies.
That is until the main character sees a flashback of a younger version in which he was part of the resurrected and infamous "Marek Gang." In this dream, the main character was on the cusp of joining Marek Gang outside a church at Große Freiheit (German for "Great Freedom") until another sight intercepts his initiation: that of a weeping St. Monica who pleads for the main character to relinquish his behavior and repent his sins. The main character was uncertain at first, but his change of heart sees St. Monica and the many women stop crying. The main character is at ease now.
This piece has a format of 4AABBACCDD. Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer," "The Sycamore" and "Elite Syncopations" are the three pieces that became the basis for this piece.