ìThe first day of springî Springís arrival is always a bit magic. The slumbering earth gently awakens, trees sprout buds, flowers surge forth, bird songs become more melodious, poplar leaves at the windís command shiver once again like butterflies, herds and flocks climb back to their lofty pastures and everything seems slowly to revive, throbbing to an ostinato rhythm that invites all of nature to join in an ever more frenetic round-dance. Itís precisely these impressions that are the inspiration behind this piece, which I wrote specially for the ´Percussionisti della Scalaª of Milan. Maurice Jarre