(2013) duet (optional prepared piano), 8 mins     

Inspired by traditional balafon music from Burkina Faso.

Composed for Emilie Carcy & Matthieu Millischer.

Joyful Balaphony was composed for French duo Émilie Carcy and Matthieu Millischer for a concert of duets/triet/quartets by John Pitts at Perpignan Conservatoire's Festival Prospective 22ème siècle 2015. This duet was inspired by some traditional music from Burkina Faso in subsaharan Africa - ensembles of balafons and djembes (hand-carved xylophones and drums).  The music is very percussive, obviously, with driving, pounding rhythms. Like a lot of other traditional musics, this african folk music is modal, and its timbres - the sounds - are both sweet and also unrefined. There are some optional piano preparations which attempt to capture some of the exotic soundworld.