The Lonely Shepherd Ennio Morricone Ruslan Achkinadze alto sax

In the hushed confines of my grandparents Stalinist apartment, the plaintive strains of Ennio Morricone s The Lonely Shepherd wafted from our cassette player, a soundtrack to my childhood reveries. Years later, on a small Moscow stage, I find myself playing the same melody on my saxophone, backed by a minus track. As the audience sways and taps their feet, I m transported back to that old apartment, the cassette player s gentle hum a comforting echo of the past. Each note I play evokes a vivid memory: the wornout couch where I d sit for hours, lost in the music; the smell of my grandmother s cooking mingling with the sweet scent of blooming lilacs outside; the sunlight streaming through the window, casting a golden glow on the dusty record collection. In the midst of the Moscow crowd, I close my eyes and let the music carry me away. I m no longer a saxophonist on stage, but a child again, immersed in the timeless beauty of The Lonely Shepherd.