Tagged with 'Michael Sanderling'

Hand in Hand: This is the message of Mozart ve Mevlana by Fazıl Say. On November 6, 2024, this work will premiere at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL), performed by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Sanderling and joined by the Berlin Radio Choir.

On 25 August 2018, Fazil Say’s fourth symphony Umut Senfonisi will be premiered by the Dresden Philharmonic and conductor Michael Sanderling at the Kulturpalast Dresden. The orchestra commissioned the work from Say, who will be their Composer-in-Residence for the 2018-19 season.

Say characteristically choses programmatic titles for his symphonies, and as “Umut” is the Turkish word for “hope”, Umut Senfonisi or ‘Hope Symphony’ is no exception. In his previous symphonies - Istanbul, Mesopotamia and Universe – Say musically evokes the moods and images suggested by the title of each work, often employing musical idioms from his homeland of Turkey. While Umut Senfonisi is a more abstract title, the work similarly employs traditionally Turkish elements such as passages with time signatures of 7/8 and 9/8 in the second and third movements.

Fazil Say – Umut Senfonisi: destruction and hope

Following traditional symphonic structure, Umut Senfonisi is composed of four movements: Largo espressivo, Allegro energico, Andante tranquillo – Swinging and Adagio, drammatico – Moderato. Throughout the first three movements Say employs dramatic volleyed interjections from the drums, which break through the music’s texture with a machine-gun effect. Say labels these interjections ‘terrorism’ as they musically portray destruction. This becomes particularly poignant in the third movement, when the ‘machine guns’ abruptly terminate a ‘party’ swing passage. In the final movement the music is no longer disrupted with violent drums, and Say ends the Symphony with a glimmer of hope.

“My music is often based on Turkish rhythms, gestures, or dance. When I’m listening to a Japanese composer, he brings something from Japan to the music, and this idea is important to me. The Russian composers, Rimsky-Korsakov or Rachmaninov, employed folk songs and dances from their homeland, and it has been said that Sibelius used nearly 30 folk songs in his Violin Concerto alone. My only concern is that I don’t want Turkish music to be simply something exotic.” – Fazil Say

Alongside Umut Senfonisi, the Dresden Philharmonic will also perform Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 and Say himself will play Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.17 “The Tempest”, with a repeat performance on 26 August. In February 2019 Umut Senfonisi will receive its French premiere in Bordeaux, performed by the Orchestre National Bordeaux-Aquitaine who co-commissioned the work.

Update: Due to the funeral of his mother, Ayşe Gürgün Say, Fazil Say was unable to attend the concerts in Dresden.

• Fazil Say - profile


• Umut Senfonisi - work details


• Kulturpalast Dresden

 

© photo: Marco Borggreve

The genre of the symphony includes many strange beasts: "Unfinished" works, others labelled "No. 0", and even some with alternate or multiple opus numbers. Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 6 may well be one such oddity. His Symphonies No. 7 and No. 8 were completed decades ago and have enjoyed multiple performances, however, Symphony No. 6 has only recently been completed.



Long Yu will conduct the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and baritone Yuan Chenye in the world premiere on 24 September.

Krzysztof Penderecki – Symphony No. 6: A farewell to the genre?

Subtitled “Chinese Songs”, Symphony No. 6 comprises eight songs based on Chinese texts connected by solo intermezzos played on the erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument. Evoking a melancholic atmosphere, the use of a small orchestra creates an intimate chamber music feel and at just under 25 minutes, the work contrasts his earlier extended symphonies. Penderecki has declared this to be his farewell to the symphonic genre - although one never knows what the future may bring.

I have spent decades searching for and discovering new sounds. I have also closely studied the forms, styles and harmonies of past eras. I continue to adhere to both principles … my current creative output is a synthesis. – Krzysztof Penderecki

Michael Sanderling will conduct the Dresdner Philharmonie in the German premiere on 5 May 2018.

• Krzysztof Penderecki – profile


• 6. Sinfonie – work details and score


• Saisoneröffnung - 60 Jahre Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra