The title of this work is derived from the Greek pyrrichios, a form of war dance. Although the music is not always dance-like, the concept of aggression as a form of "dance" permeates the entire work and is symbolically and physically present everywhere. The music is in four movements: the outer movements are very virtuosic and focus on both soloists; the second movement is for all intents and purposes a piece for solo viola and strings with the percussion receding into the background; in the third movement this emphasis is reversed and the spotlight turns to the percussionist (on musical saw and marimba). The two middle movements can be performed independently by each soloist as self-contained pieces.
Pyrrichean Dances is one of those rare modern works that neither talks down to listeners, nor submerges them under waves of irony or postmodernism, yet still has the ability to pull them in.
