# desert-inspired classical?



## FossilHominid (Feb 24, 2018)

Looking for works that evoke the desolate and ponderous nature of the desert. 

On a related note: are there any noteworthy western classical composers coming out of the middle east/north africa?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Fazil Say, of Turkey, is well-known as a pianist. But he has written at least three symphonies and other works as well, all in print.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Try Koechlin's Les Heures Persanes 

Anouar Brahem - Tunisian oud musician - outstanding discography

aslo Mare Nostrum - Jordi Savall - there's the multicultural flavour not only of the sea but of the desert too


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The classic is Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia. I've traveled in Mongolia and that part of the world and Borodin's music evokes the atmosphere of that region beautifully.
Then there's The Painted Desert from Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite.
Felicien David wrote a work for chorus and orchestra called The Desert, but musically doesn't evoke what you would expect.
Homer Dunn's Desert Suite for piano is interesting and worth playing through. Movements like Oasis, Mirage, Cholla Dance, on the Mesa fit the description.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

FossilHominid said:


> Looking for works that evoke the desolate and ponderous nature of the desert.


 Morning mood from Peer Gynt.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

"Deserts" by Varese


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles


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## zelenka (Feb 8, 2018)

Ravel's Bolero, it always makes me feel of desert life


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

Perhaps a stretch: Symphony #7 by Vaughan Williams "Sinfonia Antarctica"; technically Antarctica is a desert, the driest (albeit coldest) place on earth; and certainly fits the bill as "desolate".


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Steve Reich - _The Desert Music_ (starts at 30:55)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Dubrovay composed Deserts.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Bloch: _Voice in the Widerness_


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

KenOC said:


> Fazil Say, of Turkey, is well-known as a pianist. But he has written at least three symphonies and other works as well, all in print.


currently listening to this now. :O i must say, Say is interesting.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

FossilHominid said:


> On a related note: are there any noteworthy western classical composers coming out of the middle east/north africa?


Two not mentioned I think:

Ahmed Adnan Saygun from Turkey
Bechara El Khoury from Lebanon

Both very worthwhile.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

FossilHominid said:


> On a related note: are there any noteworthy western classical composers coming out of the middle east/north africa?


Mohammed Fairouz is an American-born composer of Arabic ancestry, and some of his music engages with the Middle Eastern part of his heritage.

Example:


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## Bill Cooke (May 20, 2017)

If you don't mind including film music, Maurice Jarre's score for LAWRENCE OF ARABIA includes some wonderful desert trek music. There is an extraordinary recording of the complete score on the Tadlow label.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Ferde Grofé's _Death Valley Suite_, especially the _Sandstorm_ final movement.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Sculthorpe's Earth Cry


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Two of my favs, Sculthorpe and Varese - I like this thread


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Two of my favs, Sculthorpe and Varese - I like this thread


Also not-quite-desert -- Sculthorpe's Kakadu. Oddly, a totally different word than the word used to name Beethoven's Kakadu Variations.


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## KJ von NNJ (Oct 13, 2017)

An epic desert composition would be Omar Khayyam by Sir Granville Bantock. His enthusiasm for the east was a lifelong interest. He learned Persian and owned Arabic books all his life. Some of these books were found by his bedside when he died in 1946.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Death Valley Suite by Ferde Grofe as well as his ubiquitous Grand Canyon Suite.

May also wish to try Virgil Thomson's score for The Plow That Broke the Plains about the American Dust Bowl of the 1930s.


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