Nataraja by Tetsuya Takeno

Nataraja, by Tetsuya Takeno, was originally written as a marimba solo with a conga player and was originally entitled Arabian Dances. In the form presented here, Takeno employs four individual players on an expanded instrumentation: two marimbas, a vibraphone, bongos and a kick drum, to musically depict the dancing form of the Hindu god, Shiva. The musical material twists and turns through a variety of tempi, meters, rhythmic motives, and bases its melodic material on Indian and Middle Eastern inspired scales. The music also depicts a variety of moods, which will certainly draw the crowd in at any performance.