This symphonic suite is the result of Navarro’s fascination for the Middle Ages ever since he was a child.

King Arthur’s legend, el Cantar del Mío Cid, and all the epic literature have drawn his attention to all artistic works belonging to that period of time.

La Tercera Cruzada is mainly Navarro’s tribute to a cinema genre that has made us dream so often. This composition has a defined epic and adventure style, the composer tries to tell a story that shows the archetype of a medieval hero’s character: a brave knight of human values, such as to protect the week, a life full of honors, victories, battles, desires and platonic loves.

Even if the historical references are clear, this piece is timeless, since it can illustrate any other production of the kind, even if the story takes place in a period of time other than the Middle Ages.

Along this seven minutes medley we find a series of musical themes, that describe the main events in an imaginary film.

The composition stars with an introductory fanfare that suggests its epic character. Immediately after, the horns play the main theme in slow tempo leading to a tutti that tries to describe this adventure’s main character and his heroic nature.

Afterwards, the fierceness of the battle is intensively described in a series of measures where percussion plays a leading role. After a transition, we come to the love theme, played softly by the oboe soloist, revealing a platonic feeling of sweetness, purity and dreamed beauty. Later on, loneliness, and darkness felt in the battlefield are reflected while taking over the love theme with passion, turning into hope at last. Then, after some restless measures where cellos and contrabasses play in unison, the horns take us back through a cadence to the first tempo that concludes, after a series of variations, in a victorious end.