Legend of a Mountain

Legend of a Mountain recounts the story of ‘La dent du chat’ (the cat’s tooth), a mountain situated in the French Savoie region. The peak of the mountain resembles a tooth, hence the name. The legend revolves around an unfulfilled promise, the vengeance of a cat, and the mountain itself. The composition contains turbulent passages, lyrical and aggressive motifs, and dramatic climaxes, all of which vividly narrate this legend to the audience.  Jacob de Haan created a symphonic poem, aided by musical effects commonly heard in operas.  As a listener you are completely taken away by the tension that continues until the end.

The story:

The ominous introduction provides a glimpse into the legendary drama that follows.

At the foot of the mountain, not far from the lake, lived a fisherman together with his wife and five children.

The friendly theme in 6/8 time resounds the fisherman in his boat on the rippling water of the lake.

Because he had not caught anything the whole day, he promised to give the very first fish back to the water. Immediately, he caught an enormous fish. However, he forgot his promise and did not throw the fish back. Then he got another bite, and with lots of force he pulled a live black cat out of the water.

The friendly theme is suddenly interrupted by the timpani, announcing the excitement of the catch of the big fish and subsequently the cat. From this moment, the music sounds much more turbulent.

The fisherman took the cat home, where his wife and children took care of it.

The lyrical theme, played by various instrument groups, reflects the harmony in the family of the fisherman. A moment later this harmony goes together with a penetrating motif, each time followed by a hit on the bass drum. This echoes the aggression of the cat.

 After a while the cat started attacking the children. Since the fisherman was superstitious, he did not dare kill the animal – for fear of a curse. He put the cat in a bag and took it with him up the mountain.

In the music this action can be heard in an ascending theme. Then we hear the aggression motif again.

The cat started to attack cattle, dogs, women and children. The fisherman did not catch anything anymore; he sold his boat and became a lumberjack. But he soon wounded himself with his axe and lost his job as a lumberjack.

A thunderous bang reflects his fate.

One morning he was found in front of his house, where he and his wife and children had been killed by the cat of the lake, which had now become the size of a panther.

After this drama, the lyrical them returns, which now laments the death of the family.

The cat then terrorized the whole region: it repeatedly let nine people pass and killed every tenth person. Then along came a soldier looking for his fiancée. Although he would be the tenth person after the last victim, he defied the danger, took up his arms and confronted he animal.

The music reaches its final climax.

He aimed his rifle and hit the cat in the chest, whereupon it roared like lion. He aimed again and killed the animal. It rolled off the mountain and disappeared in the deep lake.

This descending movement can be heard in the music, followed by the murmuring cadence of the water, in which we hear the echo of the lyrical theme – that has now found its harmony at the bottom of the lake. The aggression motif is still there, but it has lost its tooth (or its sharpness) to the mountain.