Vasava (Lord of the Spheres) for Brass Ensemble by Jason Thorpe Buchanan was written between December 2008 and January 2009. After a trip to the Asian art museum in San Francisco, I was reminded of my interest in Indian culture and their systems of organization in music. This work largely incorporates the Indian desi-tala system of rhythmic cycles, which are treated relatively strictly throughout the entire work. Each of the 120 ancient talas have specific cultural, spiritual and emotional associations and are used for specific events and situations. While visiting the museum and reading some Hindu mythology, I became intrigued by the idea of writing a series of character pieces for various instrumentation based on Hindu deities. The title is Sanskrit, and its English translation is "Lord of the Spheres". This name is often used interchangeably with the more commonly known "Indra", the god of thunder, lightning and rain. The title Vasava is in reference to Indra's position as leader of Vasus, name for a group of Hindu (Vedic) gods. They are considered eight deities attendant on Indra, comprising day, dawn, fire, moon, pole star, sun, water, and wind. This work was commissioned by Takayoshi "Tad" Suzuki and the UNLV Brass Ensemble for a performance in May 2009.

B-flat trumpet (3), horn (4), trombone (3), euphonium, tuba, percussion (3)

Catalogue No. 05015