Gavin Bryars has a long association with dance (his music for Merce Cunningham's Biped is recorded as BCGBCD02) and has worked with some of the world's leading choreographers. Amjad is his second work with Édouard Lock's La La La Human Steps and they plan more work together. Amjad takes those moments that one might call “iconic” in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. The music strikes a balance between a direct and recognizable reference to the Tchaikovsky source and new compositions, while retaining the essence of the original music. The reduced instrumentation takes an unusual chamber music formation – 2 violas, cello and piano – an ensemble capable of providing a full sound in the theatre, and the omission of the more conventional violins giving a darker and richer sonority.

Bryars wrote 16 pieces, of which 13 are included in Amjad, and Édouard Lock added four pieces by the American composer David Lang, which also refer to the Tchaikovsky ballets and use the same instrumentation. The ballet has toured the world since its premiere in 2007, and continues to be performed to great critical acclaim, and audiences everywhere have praised the beauty of the music. The performers on this recording are the musicians who have been with the work since its inception. The sequence of pieces on this recording is the order in which they appear in the ballet itself.