‘For my sixteenth birthday, in 1966, my elder brother gave me a copy of Si Yeou Ki, and I was fascinated. I read the book, and reread it with the idea of putting it to music. But it took me 53 years to embark on the voyage, no doubt because I had to complete my journey as a composer before venturing into the music to accompany the journey of initiation of the Monk San Ts’ang (Xuanzang).

My goal was to write music for dance expressing the poetry of the original text and conveying spiritual elevation by facing the ordeals. This French composer begs indulgence for being so bold as to take on such a monument of Chinese literature.’

– Laurent Petitgirard