It’s Memorial Day. Before you start in with the burgers and the quoits and the three legged-race and the gumboot toss and all that, remember how lucky we are, and those who laid down their lives believing they were doing something for the greater good.

Bernard Herrmann is most celebrated for his film scores, in particular those he wrote for Alfred Hitchcock, though he did much brilliant besides. Here’s a concert piece he wrote in 1943, called “For the Fallen,” in a fascinating historical document with the composer conducting the New York Philharmonic:

Here it is again in a modern performance, with more up-to-date sound:

Listen to both if you can. Happy Memorial Day.