Michael Nyman is one of Britain's leading film composers. This concerto for saxophone & chamber orchestra is related to a similarly-named composition, the song, "Where the Bee Sucks," a Shakespearean lyric Nyman composed for his film score to Peter Greenaway's film "Prospero's Books."

It was written for saxophone virtuoso John Harle. It is in one continuous movement lasting almost eighteen minutes. The reference in the title is to the circling dances made by a scout bee that has located a food source and intends to communicate its location to fellow members of its hive. These circular motions are echoed in figurations in the work. Harmonically, the most important element is a sequence of four chords that John Harle heard the composer play and said he liked. Finally, there are scattered reference to the above-mentioned song from "Prospero's Books."



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