A Desert March is a protest march and a requiem for European musical culture. This seemingly endless march carries with it subdued or disfigured Western art music quotations (Brahms, Schubert, Beethoven, Bartók, Janácek, Satie). Iconic items such as Beethoven?s Ode to Joy (now the hymn of the European Union) and the United States national anthem appear in numerous, often distorted forms as if molten metal ransacked by the military machine of the relentless march. Yet this monumental work strives for a state of calm and ultimate balance.