The Hand of Fatima
The Caprice en forme d'arabesques ("Caprice in the Form of Arabesques") was composed in Morocco while Dillon Ford was on the faculty of the American School of Tangier (1982-83). This six-movement suite tells no specific story. Each movement, rather, represents some impression of a particular person, place, or thing encountered either in everyday reality or in the realm of imagination.
The Hand of Fatima (daughter of the Prophet Muhammad) evokes the mysterious properties of a charm, often taking the form of brass objects and jewelry, that is considered to be powerful protection against the evil eye. In Ford's musical interpretation, shimmering melodic figures in the instrument's upper register are pitted against dark and sinister forces below, which ultimately submit to Fatima's benign influence.