Cue of the Week: “Dissent and Steel”

Continuing the music series from Empires Apart, this week’s cue is medium-energy combat score – great for when hostilities have broken out, but haven’t yet reached apocalyptic proportions.

The meter alternates between 4/4 and 5/4, creating an asymmetry that I find useful in characterizing combat. When a flute-and-bassoon melody emerges, it’s lyrical and legato but still has to wend its way around the off-center pulse. As a result, a tune that might have been sad or dirge-like gets a bit of a rhythmic twist, and sense of personality.