Five pieces (six actually) inspired and influenced by nature and the East.
When the organisers of the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889 invited gamelan players from Indonesia they introduced French composers to a whole world of new and exciting possibilities and a new direction in music.
Debussy led the way and his piano pieces Pagodas and Gardens in the rain are fabulous pieces of aural picture painting.
Languorous, sensual, dreamy, Debussy’s Prelude a l’apres midi d’un faun bends and stretches the 19thcentury western sound world.
Japanese composer Toro Takemitsu was inspired by the French composers who were inspired by Eastern culture. Spirit Garden is a meditation on the sacred spaces that are Japanese gardens.
Messiaen’s Jardín du sommeil d’amour, (Garden of love’s sleep) is otherworldly, dreamy and intoxicating as a whole new world emerges from a pair of entwined sleeping lovers.
Amazing grown-up music for children. Ravel’s Mother Goose brings us gongs and pagodas and the view of the Fairy Garden blows your heart wide open.
