Darkness Dreaming, live performance

By David Balakrishnan, for string quartet. Improvisation required. Length 10:00

“Darkness Dreaming is a sheer delight, a blend of Hungarian fiddle tunes and fanciful swing-jazz dance styles.”

-Greg Cahill, Strings Magazine May-June 2026

As heard on Island Prayers

The melodic and harmonic material of Darkness Dreaming is derived from an Indian scale known as the “Todi Raga,” believed to have originated in Rajasthan, a region of Northern India also known as the ancestral homeland of the European Gypsies (Roma). The Rajasthani culture is renowned for their artistic tradition of miniatures, in which they give the ragas human form and character–in this case the raga is depicted as “Ragini Todi,” a “lovesick woman who attracts the deer.” An Indian audience listening to a successful performance of this raga would experience a mood of “delighted adoration in a gentle, loving sentiment.”