Philip, just fully grown, confronts George Eacker, a man who publicly maligned his father. The dispute escalates into a duel, and before anyone knows it, Philip has been mortally wounded.
The song begins with a very upbeat, almost Andy-Griffith-Show-level, apple-pie whistle backing. This highlights Philip’s good heart and naivety, and appears at first to signal a return to the first act’s more lighthearted tone. However, it is considered bad luck to whistle in a theater, on stage or off stage. Foreshadowing!
When he meets with Eacker, his mother’s piano lesson music kicks in, still upbeat, except that the audience now must confront that it is the same motif as “Ten Duel Commandments.” As the duel becomes finalized, the whistling ceases, and we instead get wind instruments that tremble a little but still hit their notes, reflecting Philip’s “I’m a little nervous, but I can’t show it” show of bravery. As Philip prepares on the dueling ground, strings kick in and soar wildly, as if mirroring Philip’s heart. However, they remain major. Right until the end, neither Philip nor the audience is prepared for how wrong this duel will go, and then, as if to startle us from our complacent trust in the show’s code of honor, the duel count is cut off early as the fatal shot rings out.