The Portuguese composer César Viana – born in England, in 1963, and now resident in Spain – is an all-round musician: conductor, pianist, early-music enthusiast, folklorist and flautist, with a special interest in the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute. His resulting familiarity with Zen Buddhism has left its mark on his music, where the clean lines of Japanese art combine with a fondness for the contrapuntal textures that form the basis of much European art-music – imagine Bach and Hindemith in the formal elegance of a stone garden, warmed by a touch of western wit. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.