Songs from an Old World

Songs from an Old World (2026)

for chamber orchestra

2 fl; 2 ob (+ ca); 2 cl; 2 bsn
2 hn; 2 tpt
timp; perc
strings

Duration: c. 8 minutes

Programme note:

Songs from an Old World bridges two distinct musical universes, weaving the oral traditions of Hindustani classical music into the structural and harmonic frameworks of the Western orchestra. The melodic material for this work is drawn from transcriptions of vocal improvisations by some of the great classical singers of northern India.

At the heart of the piece is the concept of the raag—the foundational melodic framework of Indian classical music. While comparable to a Western mode or scale, a raag is far more complex, encompassing prescribed ornamentations, characteristic phrases, and deeply rooted emotional and temporal associations. Each raag is traditionally bound to a specific time of day or season, a quality that dictates the narrative arc of the work’s three movements:

1 Late morning / Raag Desi

2 Nocturne / Raag Bageshri

3 Monsoon rains / Raag Gaud Malhar

Through this synthesis, Songs from an Old World does not merely contrast East and West, but seeks a shared expressive space where ancient vocal lineages and contemporary orchestral textures illuminate one another.

Charlie Barber, September 2026