Traitors’ Gate – (Wind Band) A Quick March by Stuart Dean
 
Synopsis
 
Imagine the horror of being taken along the River Thames, through Traitors' Gate and into the Tower of London where a gruesome public execution awaited you. The unfortunate victims who met with this fate could never have envisaged that centuries later the very place where they had spent their last moments would one day become a popular tourist attraction with millions of visitors passing through its gates every year. 
 
Traitor’s Gate attempts to portray in music the history of this great London landmark. The stark contrast between it’s dark past and the present day, complete with a part for anvil, cleverly orchestrated to conjure up images of prisoners being clapped in irons.
 
At its conclusion, there is a meeting of past and present when the music returns to the opening theme set in a much lighter style. The Tower's ghosts are gathering as the gates are being unlocked to mischievously mingle with the tourists as they pour through. The wide-eyed visitors listen to spine tingling stories as they take in the atmosphere and marvel at the splendour of this iconic building with its gruesome past.
 
The Front Cover image is an adaptation of an original photograph by Colin Dean.