Kalimotxo is an alcoholic drink popular in Spain, particularly in the Basque region,
consisting of equal parts red wine and cola. This mixture of the ancient and traditional
with the sugary and modern is comparable to the sardana, a genre of Catalonian wind
band music that accompanies circle-dances, and which juxtaposes potent and ancient
sounding Catalan shawms with unabashedly schmaltzy light-music harmonies. Every piece
of sardana music begins with the same quasi-improvisatory introduction known as the
‘introit’, which is played on the flabiol, a very high pitched instrument similar to a
recorder or tin whistle, and in my piece this is transformed into a melodic gesture that is
heard at the beginning and constantly throughout the work. - Robin Haigh