Birds in Music: Ascending Bird

Heard on Interlochen Public Radio today, during a program about music inspired by animals, “Ascending Bird”:

“Ascending Bird” is an arrangement of a traditional Persian folk melody by Silk Road Ensemble members Colin Jacobsen and Siamak Aghaei. As described on “Silent City,” a CD from Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor and the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, “Ascending Bird” recounts the mythical tale of a bird’s attempt to fly to the sun. After failing twice, on the third attempt the bird loses its physical body in the radiant embrace of the sun, a metaphor for spiritual transcendence.