Cut the Rug by DAVID BRUCE

"explosively joyful" New York Times

Originally written for the unique Silk Road Ensemble, this piece is now available in a version for relatively standard orchestral instruments.

Like the concept of the Silk Road, Tony Gatlif's film Latcho Drom covers a wide geographical area. Without any commentary, this wonderful documentary traces the progress of gypsy music from its origins in the deserts of Northern India, via Egypt, Turkey and Romania, and ending up with the flamenco dancers of Andalucia. The idea of all these diverse but equally vibrant musics being part of one large family has always appealed to me, as has the ease and naturalness with which new styles have been integrated into a developing musical language as the Roma have moved from one area to another. In my piece I think there is a similarly wide spread of cultural influences, which I hope integrate to create something new - there are a few drops of Kyrgystzan; definite hints of Turkey; a pinch of flamenco; and perhaps even a dash of American Cajun music, and many influences besides.

As always, it was the instruments I was writing for that determined the direction the piece took - a typically Silk Road jamboree of instruments from a wide variety of heritages, including a Syrian clarinettist, an American accordionist, an Iranian kamancheh player, and an Israeli mandolinist.

A new aspect in this piece as far as my writing is concerned is the influence of music from Central Asia, in particular, music from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Although I didn't use any melodies or accompanying patterns directly, there is, for me at least, a strong flavour of the region in many parts of the piece, and much of the mandolin writing in the piece is influenced by the sound of the Komuz, the Central Asian fretless stringed instrument. To this end, the title is partly a play on the rugs the region so famously produces (and the subtitle of the first movement, 'Drag the goat' is a reference to the favoured sport of the region - Buzkashi or Kok-boru ("Goat Dragging") in which horseback riders try to score goals using a headless goat carcass - my hope is the movement captures a little of that wild joyful spirit), but 'Cut the Rug' is also an old-fashioned expression said of someone who dances well.

The piece is in four movements:

1. Drag the goat
2. Bury the hatchet
3. Move the earth
4. Wake the dead


The Silk Road Ensemble at the premiere of Cut the Rug in Harvard


Bagpiper Cristina Pato and Bass Jeffrey Beecher


The Ensemble at Carnegie Hall


The composer with Kinan Azmeh and Yo-yo Ma