Work of the Week – Fazil Say: Concerto

We want more trumpets! In Fazil Say’s exciting new work Concerto, he features not only one, but two solo trumpets! World-renowned virtuosos Gábor Boldoczki and Sergei Nakariakov will perform the world premiere with the FOK Prague Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andrey Boreyko on 13 May 2023 in Budapest’s spectacular Béla Bartók National Concert Hall.

The 26-minute piece is divided into three movements: The first movement is characterised by rhythmically free solo lines followed by slow passages in the second movement showcasing a propulsive theme in the piccolo trumpet. In the powerful finale, the composer addresses the 2015 terrorist attack at the Ankara railway station, drawing on motifs from his work Klaviersonate In memoriam, 10.10.2015. 

Virtuoso trumpet duet: Concerto by Fazil Say

Say composed the solo parts for trumpeters Boldoczki and Nakariakov to whom the piece is also dedicated. Throughout Concerto, Say plays with extreme tonal possibilities and makes use of all the registers within the trumpet family through the use of solo B-flat trumpet, piccolo trumpet, and flugelhorn.

The sound of the trumpet is noble and brilliant; it lends itself as well to warlike fantasy images, to cries of rage and revenge as to songs of triumph, and accommodates the expression of all energetic, proud, grandiose feelings as well as most tragic tones. (Hector Berlioz)

Say’s Concerto was commissioned by the Konzerthaus Müpa Budapest, the hr-Sinfonieorchester, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the NFM Filharmonia Wrocławska, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Beethoven Orchester Bonn. This work will have its German premiere in Frankfurt on 7 December 2023 with the hr-Sinfonieorchester and both Boldoczki and Nakariakov. Shortly afterwards, both soloists will perform the Chinese premiere with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta on 13 January 2024.

Links:

Fazil Say: Composer Profile

Concerto: Work Details and Online Score

Website FOK Prague Symphony Orchestra

Illustration: Uwe Arens & Atremon Music