Carrying a somewhat cryptic title, Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music is a collection of original songs by composer/arranger Nico Muhly and singer/songwriter/producer Thomas Bartlett (Doveman). Both active in their own varied roles on the indie rock scene, they're also both classically trained pianists who first met in the early 2000s at Columbia University. They later discovered a shared interest in the work of Colin McPhee, a Canadian composer credited as the first to bring the music of Bali and Java to the West. A precursor to modern world music, his gamelan transcriptions for dual piano were eventually recorded in the 1940s by McPhee and composer Benjamin Britten. Three of those transcriptions are performed here by Bartlett and Muhly and scattered through a sequence of nine original songs inspired by McPhee's work. The project is named in honor of Britten's partner, opera tenor Peter Pears (an interesting figure in his own right). Bartlett's lyrics were inspired by a combination of self-discoveries in his mother's baby books and references to things connected to Pears and McPhee, including the personal and musical.

1		Gambangan[null]
2		Dominic[null]
3		Festina[null]
4		Grendel[null]
5		Pemoengkah[null]
6		Valentine[null]
7		Albeus[null]
8		Nicholas[null]
9		Taboeh Teloe[null]
10		Selenite[null]
11		Eusebius[null]
12		Balthasar[null]
13		Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music - Digital Booklet