The Little Town Where Time Stood Still is a title I borrowed from Bohumil Hrabal, doubtlessly one of the warmest authors of all time. Just seeing the cover of Hrabal’s wonderful novel was enough, and I knew exactly of which ‘town’ he spoke. I deliberately set to writing the music before I ever glanced at the text. The music started pouring out, and it appeared before me so vivid and enticing…
I think that everyone has their own ‘town’.
In the most obvious sense, it’s all the places that weave the net of our past, our memories and our remembrance. What I found even more interesting was the fact that almost every person is aware of the place they’ve never been to while awake, but frequently visit in their dreams. It’s always the same as you leave it, and you know exactly where each and every street is, where the library, the park and the town square towered by the clock is. It’s never trodden: rather, one floats above its grounds.
…And, then, there’s something else: It’s always empty.
The only souls I’ve met there were those of my dead. I’ve been meeting my grandpa in the bike shop, had long talks with granny in the park … It is a place where time has stood still, the place where the inexorable hangman of the forth dimension lays down his sword at the town gates. It’s an Atlantis. …more so, it is the New Jerusalem.
arr: symphony orchestra a3
alt. arr: violin & piano
dur: cir. 17 min.