Lahara (2015)

Lahara – which literally means ‘wave’ - is a term used in Indian music to describe a repeating melodic phrase that accompanies “table” and “pakhawaj” solo. In such a traditional context the “lahara” would be played by a melodic instrument such as the sarangi, functioning as a background against which the flourishing virtuosity of the soloist could evolve. In my piece this function is also present in the form of a long line stated three times fully in the Thai gongs, however there is no virtuosic soloist. Instead, the musical evolution (if it is that) takes the form of a resonant ceremony enacted on bell plates and steel pans, situated not only on-stage but in four locations around the audience. If you want to look for it, the idea of waves can also be seen in other aspects of the piece: the slow wave of the gradual progression of players from the back of the hall to the front, which defines the form of the piece; the waves of tam-tam crescendi at the end of each statement of the “lahara”; maybe even in the way that the foreground melodic figurations progressively increase in density over the course of the piece until they completely dominate our perception, before suddenly disappearing … And on a more concrete note every sound is, after all, a wave. (Christian Mason, 2016)