Salat Babilya, Babylonian Prayer, for cello

Salat Babilya was inspired by music from Iraq, in particular the beautiful sonorities of the oud, a variety of Middle Eastern lute dating back to antiquity. An oud-like resonance is evoked without the use of a bow via a combination of "arabic" scales, open strings, ringing harmonics and ornamental inflections. The particular oud piece that inspired this one was written to help lull the children of Bagdad to sleep during bombing raids and bears the same title, which translates from the Arabic as "Babylonian Prayer. (Zoë Martlew)