Moztrot, Moztrot every concert. For the past 5 years of her being in the Canterlot Philharmonic, all they would ever play was Moztrot and the occasional Buch. It was beginning to become quite annoying for them all, playing the same pieces over, and over, and over again. Sitting down in her chair, Octavia threw her sheet music at her prized Cello. All her life she practiced for to finally get to the top. Now that she was there, she realized that there was nothing at the top.
5 years ago, she auditioned and joined the prestigious Canterlot Philharmonic. 5 years, she wasted playing the same old pieces. Moztrot and Buch are good, but too much of anything leads to bitterness. 5 years after joining, she soon realized that she may be out of the job. The Philharmonic was loosing money. Even the patronage from the Princesses were not helping keep the orchestra out of financial trouble. By now, they all grew tired and were ready to call it quits but hope still remained. Octavia knew of Princess Twilight's en-devours in a different universe through the ever blabbering Pinkie Pie. When she confronted Twilight, Twilight began to brush it off until Octavia began to plea with her Princess. Her pleas did work though and Twilight said that next time she went over to that world, she said she would bring it back.
It had taken a few days but finally, a knock came on Octavio's door and with it, the good mailpony Derpy Hooves handed her a letter. Inside, there was a letter from Twilight requesting that she come to the Crystal Empire for a collection of "manuscripts". Knowing what the Princess of Friendship meant, Octavia rushed her way down to the station and got herself onto the next train to the Crystal Empire.
The train ride was long but the view was remarkable. From the cozy train car, Octavia could see the hills bend and the mountains ascend to their peaks as they entered Equestria's Northern Territories. From that point on, the view was nothing but white snow and the train ride grew considerably longer due to the constant snow covering the tracks and the ice on the tracks. Their only saving grace was the fact that the cabin was cooled by a heater.
After a few more hours, the train finally was able to plow it's way through the frozen wastes into the beautiful Crystal Empire. The sun shined brightly against the crystal buildings and the large citadel in the center. When she got off the train, Octavia was surprised to see Twilight there, waiting for her with what looked like 6 large boxes of papers and compositions. When Twilight caught eye of her, she immediately waved her over.
"Octavia, over here!" Twilight yelled. Even for a Princess, she still acted like a common pony. That was the good thing about the Princesses, they never tried to act posh and arrogant like the nobles, especially the snob Blueblood.
"Twilight! It's good to see you again. Whats with all the boxes though?" Octavia asked.
"It's the music you asked for! I managed to bring tons of it over from "you know where" so I decided to bring them all here to show you. Some of these pieces are fascinating." It was clear Twilight was ecstatic about the entire affair.
"But... why bring them all here?"
"Well, I was going to mail these back to Ponyville for you. I got the rest at the Palace."
*** *** ***
When Twilight said "the rest", Octavia was surprised to see just one more box full of musical pieces. It was as large and as filled to the brim with numerous classical pieces. Among the few was quite a few similar to Moztrot but titled under the name Mozart. When Octavia saw this, she cringed a little.
So for the next few hours, her and Twilight sat around the floor of the Citadel's guest room sifting through numerous classical pieces. Overall, the selection Twilight had brought with her was not exactly remarkable, apart from a select few from somepony named Beethoven. When they finally reached the end of the pile, only one was left. Sitting at the bottom of the box was a symphony titled "From The New World" in E Minor by Antonín Dvořák. From first glance, the symphony was seemed like nothing special with a rather slow and somewhat condescending beginning. However, the next theme was something completely different. It looked like it was as if it was the beginning of a new journey into a new world. Immediately, Octavia saw something that she did not see in the works of Moztrot, something new.
"Hey Twilight, mind if I take this one to the Philharmonic?" She asked.
"I mean, I did not get them so we could just sit here and look through everything and then send them back. Take them all Octavia, they are yours and the Philharmonic's now." Twilight replied.
"Thank you Twilight, I won't forget this!" Octavia said as the two ponies began to pack everything up and soon make their way down to the train station. When they reached the Train Station, they both boarded the train to Ponyville and decided to get some shuteye during the long way back through the night.
*** *** ***
"What have you brought me Octavia? This better not be some terrible orchestra rendition of some stupid pop song again." The conductor of the Canterlot Philharmonic, Trebled Flat, said.
"Sir, this is something completely new that I got from a friend. Trust me, it is not one of those terrible pop songs, this one is actually good." Octavia said. She knew that Trebled was on edge after he received notice of budget cuts due to the less and less earnings the Philharmonic was getting.
"Well, just give me the piece and let me review it's worth. The next concert may be our last so we better put on a good show if we all want to have jobs by the end of the month." He said rather cynically.
"Trust me, this may pull us out of the gutter." Octavia optimistically replied.
Trebled simply grunted and ushered Octavia away from him with his hoof. It would not be until next rehearsal when they got Trebled's response.
*** *** ***
It was now Sunday, rehersal day. When Octavia got on the train to Canterlot, she was not herself. The past few days, she was nervous, not only for her job but for the Philharmonic. She had worked hard to get that job and ever since, it was her pride and joy, no matter how stale Moztrot and Buch were. Each night, she thought of that piece, "From The New World" and thought of whoever wrote it. She knew it wasn't a pony but still, it had an effect on her thoughts.
When she read through the first movement, she thought of her first time in Manehattan when she began to play her Cello at jazz clubs. For being a small town pony, she was almost immediately overwhelmed by the new sights of the big city and very nearly had a panic attack and took the next train back to Ponyville. Still, she found peace in the jazz clubs she played at and eventually survived the big city.
Still caught up in the nostalgia of Manehattan, she very nearly failed to notice that the train had reached Canterlot. Taking her Cello with her, she nervously stepped off the train to the busy station, not knowing what would happen to her job. When she arrived at the Philharmonic Hall, she was slightly relieved to see that everypony else was equally as nervous as her. Taking her seat as the lead Cello, Octavia pulled out her prized instrument and like everypony else, waited in rest position until Trebled Flat came out.
When the on-edge conductor finally came out, his demeanor was slightly different than what is was the day Octavia had given him the composition. For the first time in a few years, she saw the Stallion not grumbling but somewhat optimistic. When he got up to his conductor's podium, he could tell that everypony was nervous so he began his short speech immediately.
"Alright ladies and gentlecolts, I can see you are worried right now. I am as well, but I think we have found out big break. Thanks to the ever-wonderful Octavia and Princess Twilight, we may have a shot at not loosing our jobs. We can't spare any mistakes though, this is probably our last shot. What I am about to hand out is what I want you all to put your hearts and souls into when we practice it. It is truly something remarkable."
With that, the normally grumpy unicorn passed out all of the sheets to each musician's stand and gave them all a few minutes to look over the four movements. All around, looks of intrigue filled the concert hall as the musicians looked through the new Symphony. After all was said and done, they got to work on making sure it was their best performance, for the sake of their jobs, and their Philharmonic.
*** *** ***
The end of the month had come. All around the city of Canterlot, visitors flocked from far and wide to see what the papers were calling "The Canterlot Philharmonic's Hail Celestia". For a moment, the Philharmonic almost did not have enough funds to put on the concert until the Princesses and a certain few high society ponies in Canterlot (namely Fancy Pants) intervened in it's favor. With the help of a few marketing ponies as well, the Philharmonic was able to advertise as far away as Vanhoover for their Hail Celestia. That, combined with the reduced ticket prices, brought in a large amount of ponies willing to see the last possible concert of the Canterlot Philharmonic. Those in the audience included the 4 princesses of Equestria, their respective friends and family, the nobles and members of the Canterlot and Manehattan high society clubs, even Blueblood showed up. Most importantly though, a lot of regular middle-class, hard working, ponies showed up to take in the atmosphere. For many it was clear this was their first classical concert.
After about 30 minutes after the doors to the grand concert hall opened, the lights began to dim. Out on stage, Trebled Flat came out from the side of the stage and introduced himself and the Philharmonic, thanking everyone who came in the process. As per usual, he gave the short rundown of the piece but he added his own spin to it when he mentioned it's name, "From The New World." The customary applause was given and the hall went silent, apart from the few coughs that always happen before, and in-between movements.
The piece began with the first movement. The cellos, basses, and violas played the melancholic beginning which was followed by a flute and clarinet melody. As soon as the woodwinds went silent, the violas and violins played a harsh tone, indicating a prelude to something new, something chaotic. What followed was a short climax before the prench horns came in with the main melody followed in suit by the oboes and clarinets. The melodies climax came in a great crescendo from the brass section as they repeated the horn melody with a great fineness and soon the theme died down to a short but beautiful flute solo which progressed into a beautiful melody from the strings and woodwinds alike. This would repeat for a second time until the movement came to an end with a tremendous finale from all sections alike.
The second movement was a slow Largo, starting out with a chord from the brass and a small start from the strings. What followed next was the true show stopper. As the rest of the Philharmonic died down to Piano as the oboe soloist was given free reign. The beauty of the melody saw ponies all around the concert hall begin to swell with tears while others silently cried. The thought of home clearly in all of their minds. While the melody was still going on before her part, Octavia could even see Blueblood shed a tear. The Largo continued on for another 10 minutes through peace and tranquility while still quoting a tad from the 1st movement's theme. When it ended, the concert hall was left in pure silence. All ponies went quiet after hearing such a stunning performance and all that could be heard was the pages of music being flipped all across the stands of the Philharmonic.
What followed next from the Largo was a vibrant beginning remenicent to tales from the old Equestrian west and Buffalo legends. However, what followed suit was a beautiful Molto vivace relating to the great Equestrian plains. That was in stark contrast to the beginning which was more orriented towards a Scherzo but all in all, it lead for a lively movement which quickly livened up the mood with the Philharmonic for the 4th and final movement.
When the crowd got their held up coughs out, the Philharmonic was once again shrouded in silence. Sensing that the time was right, Trebled lifted up his baton, and let the Allegro con fuoco begin. Immediately, the violins and violas let out 2 notes that seemed out of place considering the previous movements. Then, they began to repeat it and it gradually got faster as the strings began to branch off into different chords until they reached their peak. Finally, the horns led a triumphant theme which followed suit by a chaotic yet ordered theme from the strings. For a moment, it was nearly describing big cities through music, that is, until it seemed to venture back into tranquility. Soon, the next great theme would be played, almost as if it were some glorious final charge. It was ironic though, considering this could've been the Philharmonic's last concert. After the theme died down, what seemed like an endless repeat of the old filly's song "Three Blind Mice" until the horns broke the loop through a more uncertain blair which saw the cello's melody begin with the flutes. Octavia always loved the part, it was a good rush to prepare for the next part, which quoted from the Horn theme from the beginning of the movement. When it all ended, it almost seemed as if the piece was to end right then and there until another tranquil melody followed suit, quoting from the second great theme of the movement, albiet at the pace of the 2nd movement. It was almost as if the composer wrote this when they were thinking about going home. It was beautiful but finally led to the true climax of the entire symphony. Even though it was the 3rd quote, it still left a mark as it included everything... and by everything, it was truly everything. It was a great climax until it died down. Once again, it almost seemed like it was going to end before the true finale came in the form of an almost jazzy ending. Putting everything into their instruments, the Philharmonic completed the finale with the last triumphant chord.
Resting their instruments down, the crowd errupted into applause. It was not the classic depressing applause that they usually got from their previous concerts but rather a true applause. Flowers began to be tossed at the stage as the crowd went wild. The whole affair was an extreme standing ovation but it was well deserved. Octavia planned on going home and resting her hooves but was caught up with the rest of the Philharmonic in a night-long celebration. Throughout the night, drinks and cakes (courtesy of Pinkie Pie) were guzzled down like there was no tomorrow. It was not until morning when everypony woke up when they learned that a substantial donation was given to the Philharmonic and the earnings from the concert were overwhelming. Looking at her paycheck, Octavia knew to give Twilight another visit for a few other pieces.
Author's Note
Hello everyone. I teased this a while ago in the comments section of my previous story and here it is. As a viola and french horn player myself, I just love this Symphony. I understand people call it overrated (which with all honestly it can be) and a bit simplistic in contrast to Dvorak's previous symphonies but it is still my favorite. The next that fall under that are his 6th, 1st, and 8th. Now, I understand a few might wonder why I also like the 1st. The 1st is Dvorak at its core. It is unrevised and it gives clear insight to the early Dvorak. As always, comments are welcome below. And please, no politics here... I already have to deal enough with arguments in my other comments sections regarding certain subjects.
