Apis cerana indica (2021)

for solo piano

Premiered online in May 2021 by Ben Powell.

A tale of bees.

Though often feared, bees are gentle and vital beings and signify working culture to many. Delving a little deeper, research into the Indian honey bee (Apis cerana indica) found that these bees are particularly neglected due to their low yield of honey. At the time of research, it was more common in India for European honey bees are imported and kept. Indian honey bees also rarely exhibit swarming behaviour, making them even more gentle in the composer’s eye.

With these factors in mind, the middle section of the piece depicts the image of Apis cerana indica. This is achieved by maintaining sparse, melancholic textures, use of ragas, resonant pedals and soaring and improvisatory melodic passages. The choice to return to the opening material was to illustrate that any real threat is to the bees themselves. The commodification of bees’ honey production has left India’s native species neglected and may well lead to their extinction.

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Further performances

This piece was first performed for a live audience at Noorderkerk, Amsterdam on Saturday 23rd September 2023 by Berlin-based and esteemed pianist Dina Ivanova.