Named after the ancient Indian epic poem about the divine prince Rama's rescue of his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana, Farr's Ramayana was inspired by a short passage from Beethoven's 'Waldstein' piano sonata, in which Farr recognised figurations and a chord progression found in Balinese gamelan music. Another influence on this work was Barber's solo piano sonata, recommended to Farr by his teacher at New York's Eastman School of Music, Samuel Adler.