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 worn-out 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“.