Dictators, despots and deluded megalomaniacs have all tried to impose their warped visions of order on the world.

Christian Brandt’s work reflects not on the individual but more on the consequences of their ‘madness’ – and the quote from Julius Caesar: “Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war I order to whips the citizenry into a patriotic fervour.”

The work depicts a savage and brutal world, but also the resistance of the human spirit to repel, battle and overcome unjust authority. The title refers in part to the date of the Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine but also of the formation of the Nazi Party in Germany.

It is therefore a composition of extremes; viciousness and savagery set against beauty and optimism – almost a tone-poem overture of 22 intertwined sub-sections that reflect Caesar’s aphorism – from a Ruritanianesque toy solider parade to the ‘fight to the last gasp’.

There is ‘shock and awe’, grinding progress, sadness and loss, resistance and struggle – the music quoting freely of the Ukrainian National Anthem as well as Mussorgky’s ‘Great Gate of Kiev’ and Purcell’s famous ‘Dido’s Lament’ – ‘When I am laid in earth’.

The latter element reflects on the loss of homes, dignity and loved ones. There are occasional hints at better times as the theme of the parading toy tin soldiers is heard from afar, like a distant memory – although this time, bring victory to a just cause.

To announce the final push, the composer heralds a church bell strike and an air raid siren signalling a ferocious musical counterattack. After a final rendition of the Purcell theme, the work closes with a mood of triumph over tyranny.

The title of the piece is also the original name from 'In the First Cycle' (B. Sergeevich Kalinnikov).