Tarab premiered by David Grimal in le Volcan, Scène Nationale du Havre, on April 23rd 2010. Born in 1948 in Rome, Philippe Hersant studied music at the Paris Conservatory, notably in the composition class of André Jolivet, before residing at the Casa Velasquez from 1970 to 1972 and then at the Villa Medici from 1978 to 1980. Since 1973 he has been a producer for radio broadcasts with France Musiques . Refusing to play tricks with history, Philippe Hersant has forged a language that extends the course of Western music as a whole, and, without ever seeking to establish a school, he was one of the first of his generation to place himself, once more, in the domain of tonality andmodality. He does not, for all that, banish all neo-classical tendencies. On the contrary, he champions the mannerism and the deep subjectivity of his memory as sources and guides to creation.