Ballade in E Minor from The Plot Against America

A programmatic piano work inspired by the story of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

The piece is split into 3 distinct sections:

1. Vote for Lindbergh or Vote for War · 0:19
   In an alternate history timeline, aviation hero Charles Lindbergh appears at the Republican National Convention and is nominated for President. He runs on an isolationist platform of “Vote for Lindbergh or Vote for War.” The story follows the Roths, a Jewish family living in Newark, as they navigate increasing fascist sympathies. This section starts off in a minor waltz, as the narrator’s sense of safety is slowly shattered by growing fears. This is followed by a tense, overbearing theme of hovering eighth notes inspired by Chopin’s “Raindrop” Prelude (Op. 28 No. 15) as the Roths nervously await the election results, where they then see Lindbergh has defeated FDR in a landslide election.

2. Loudmouth Jew · 1:25
   The Roths finally gather enough money to go for a trip to Washington D.C., where they begin to notice small acts of antisemitism. The rhetoric they had been seeing on the television is now becoming their personal reality. Nevertheless, the narrator works to hide those feelings of frustration, anger, and fear, instead gazing with awe at the nation’s capital. For a fleeting moment, a sense of national pride is restored, as the nation’s anthem is heard in the piece; however, it all quickly disappears when the narrator’s father is called a “loudmouth Jew” at a diner, causing a fight to nearly break out.

3. Following Christians · 2:19
   A more melancholic and pensive variation of the theme from the first chapter is heard, as the Narrator’s older brother Sandy is recruited into a “Just Folks” program, where he is sent to a Christian family in Kentucky to be “Americanized.” This quickly evolves into a tense, rushed, march-like melody, as the narrator’s family begins to be torn apart. The narrator’s cousin, who had volunteered to fight for Canada in Europe, returns from the war ruined; he had lost his leg and his fight. Sandy returns from the program eating bacon and calling his family “ghetto Jews.”