La Danse de Shiva

This concertino composed for the saxophonist Nicolas Prost was inspired by my first journey through India in 2017. You can hear elements of Hindustani music throughout the piece including the bourdon principle, the famous tampura, references to Kyhal singing and its virtuoso vocalists, the two-part formal construction of the ‘alap’ and ‘jod’ in which the former is slow and improvised and the latter fast and rhythmic.

And finally the Raga Darbari, a raga evoking the depth of the night, lending the entire work its modal colouring. Thierry Pécou