The Dervish and The Devil

For Two Recorders and Piano

1. Introductio: Two Great Bass in C
2. The Dance: Soprano and Tenor

The Dervish and the Devil is a fast-paced concert piece and unlike anything I've composed so far. Tom Beets and Joris van Goethem from the Flanders Recorder Quartet commissioned the piece for their new duo project FR2. I wanted to write something that expresses an irrepressible energy, as we know it from the dervish dance: a breathless insisting, a demonic threatening, an animalistic pounding, an intoxicating debauchery, an energy that drops all thoughts and considerations and surrenders entirely to the moment.   Due to the constant shortening of the meter from 4/4 to 6/8, 5/8 up to 2/4, the piece races towards its climax in a constant compression. You could call it “Arabic bebop”!
For the album RITUALS, which I recorded with the two of them in 2023, I not only arranged the piece for piano and two recorders, but also added an Introductio — probably the darkest and most haunting music I have ever composed!
I thank Tom and Joris for putting all their love in this recording and wish you a lot of joy with this piece!