(Kara Toprak) Instrument : piano Nombre de Pages : 12 Black Earth was inspired by Kara Toprak, a popular song in Turkey. The composer of the song, Asik Veysel (1891-1973), was one of the last great Turkish balladeers and the final link in a thousand-year tradition. Veysel went blind during childhood following an attack of smallpox. He subsequently began to learn to play the Saz, a Turkish lute, and to study poetry, initially for his own amusement. He made acquaintance with a variety of folk poets, and, after 1928, also travelled from village to village with his songs. Through the years, he became a cultural symbol of the Turkish Republic. In the song Kara Toprak, Veysel describes loneliness and loss. All that remains is the Black Earth, the colour of the landscape in his native town of Sivas. Fazil Say imitates the sound of the Saz through his selection of a muted effect in the Introduction and Epilogue of Black Earth - a meditation on the themes of a ballad. In contrast, folklore, Romantic piano style and jazz are entwined in the central sections to form a large-scale outburst. Fazil Say performs this works in both concerts of classical music and a jazz festivals: particularly in the folkloristic sections, he employs the improvisatory freedom which is inherent to both folk music and jazz.
SKU: HL.49045267
ISBN 9790001160278. UPC: 841886029927. 9.0x12.0x0.115 inches.
Black Earth was inspired by Kara Toprak, a popular song in Turkey. The composer of the song, Asik Veysel, was the last great Turkish balladeer. Fazil Say imitates the sound of the sax, a Turkish lute, through his selection of a muted effect in the Introduction and Epilogue. In contrast, folklore, Romantic piano style and jazz are entwined in the central sections to form a large-scale outburst. Now also available in an arrangement for two pianos.
SKU: HL.49047113
ISBN 9781705189269. UPC: 842819117520. 0.096 inches.
The final movement of the Sonata in A major K. 331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Rondo Alla Turca, is one of the most famous pianopieces of all. Once reserved for all music connoisseurs, later played by every piano student, its opening melody, alienated like a sine tone, is now omnipresent even as a mobile phone ringtone. The arrangement by Fazil Say, created as an effective encore, builds on this popularity. Mounted on the still recognizable classic basic level, typical jazz elements such as syncopation of the top tones and embellishment with chromatic blue notes, embedded in sometimes frenzied chains of sixteenth notes, are found - after the first eight bars have been presented originally. In accordance with the improvisational character, Say himself likes to perform his Alla Turca Jazz in other combinations, for example with the accompaniment of jazz singers or with an orchestra. Perhaps it is surprising that Fazil Say, who was born in Turkey and lives there when not on tour, does not trace Mozart's adaptation of genuinely Turkish music closer to its origins, since many of his compositions such as Black Earth or the Violin Sonata are characterized by a subtle touch Combination of classic-romantic tradition, Turkish folk music and jazz elements. In another Mozart arrangement, the ballet music Patara, which premiered in Vienna in 2006, but now composed on the rococo-esque (and almost equally popular) theme from the first movement of the same A major sonata, Say still has the connection denied to the Alla Turca, albeit inthe opposite direction. In distinctive chamber music instrumentation, the piano stands for Western culture, the ney flute for that of the Orient, atmospherically conveyed by sparse percussion and vocalises by a soprano.
SKU: HL.49046797
UPC: 842819115670. 9.0x12.0x0.099 inches.
The final movement of the Sonata in A major KV 331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Rondo Alla Turca, is one of the most famous pianopieces of all time. Once only familiar to musical experts, later a universal piece for all piano pupils, its opening melody is now even omnipresent as an alienated sinus tone-like mobile phone ring tone. Fazil Say's arrangement, originally created as an effective encore, follows on from this popularity. After the first eight bars havebeen presented in original form, typical elements of jazz superimposed on the still recognisable classical foundations can be discovered, such as syncopation of the top notes and ornamentation through chromatic blue notes, embedded in the at times frenzied chains of semiquavers. In the spirit of the work's improvisatory character, Say likes to perfom his Alla Turca Jazz in different combinations, for example accompanied by jazz singers of with orchestra. It may appear strange that Fazil Say, who was born in Turkey and - when not on tour - is still resident in that country, does not bring back Mozart's interpretation of genuine Turkish music closer to its own roots, particularly as many of his compositions such as Black Earth or the Violin Sonata are characterised by a subtle amalgamation of the Classical-Romantic tradition, Turkish folk music and elements of jazz. In a further Mozart arrangement, the ballet music Patara premiered in Vienna in 2006, composed on the basis of the Rococo-like theme from the first movement of the same A-major Sonata (wich enjoys almost as great popularity as the Alla Turca theme), Say utilised the connection which was absent in Alla Turca, albeit in the opposite direction. In the ballet music, the piano symbolises Western culture and the Ney flute Oriental culture, communcated atmosperically by austere percussion instrumentation and soprano vocalisation.
