Title:	Golden Dances of the Pharaohs
Duration:	18`
Year of composition:	2010
First performance:	Martin Fröst
	Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Sakari Oramo
	May 8 2010, Konserthuset - Stockholm
Publisher:	Universal Edition

Concerning Egypt, I will now speak at length, because nowhere are there so many marvellous things, nor in the whole world beside are there to be seen so many things of unspeakable greatness.

Written in 5th century BC by Herodotus, the description of a mysterious country of the East still stands today. Centuries have passed, and our knowledge of Egypt and its mighty rulers, the Great Kings, the Pharaohs, has developed into an almost complete science. We know practically everything about their daily habits; we have studied carefully all the silent traces left behind by the great civilization. But there is an important part of this picture which is still missing: the sounds are not there. Swallowed by the inexorable current of time, they left the impressive stone structures mute. The faces once hidden behind the golden masks…what were the timbres of their voices? The moods of their ritual songs? What was the music like when they danced?

Spoken by narrator at the beginning of the Concerto, the text above is only meant to trigger the imagination of the listener. It was never my intention to try to complete the impossible task of bringing back an exact sound picture of ancient Egyptian music. There are of course some facts that are known about the musical instruments of that era. Bamboo flutes, arched and angular harps, bronze and silver trumpets were of rather primitive construction. For instance the flutes of that period could most likely only produce 5-tone scales, and without half-tones. The percussion of the Pharaonic "orchestra" was probably much closer in sound to the modern versions of the same instruments. It offered a variety of hand-played drums, castanets, bells, cymbals and a sacred instrument called the sistrum with a rattling tambourine-like sound. I tried to use as many modern equivalents of the ancient instruments available in the modern symphony orchestras as it only was possible. Also the whole tone scales and so called "Arabic" scales are included in the musical material and clearly heard throughout the Concerto. But the main attraction and the very reason for this piece being written is of course the Clarinet soloist himself. The astonishing virtuosity of Martin Fröst is put in the main focus. Starting from the gloomy eerie echoes of gigantic Egyptian tombs, his Clarinet will lead the audience through the encounters with Pharaoh Queens and Kings and their sacred rituals to the final ecstatic "Bacchanalian" orgy of true Pharaonic dimentions.

Golden Dances of the Pharaohs was a commission from the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm and is dedicated to Martin Fröst.