The
Music Department of the University of California, Santa Cruz
presents
Faculty Showcase Concerts
Sunday,
January 30, 2005
3:00 pm - Music
Center Recital Hall
"Double Bill: Nylon, Steel, & Opera"
PROGRAM
Yemen Türküsü
for two guitars by Mesut Özgen
Mesut Özgen, nylon-string guitar(1)-William
Coulter, steel-string guitar(2)
Anatolian Fantasy by Mesut Özgen
Tango Cruz by Mesut Özgen
M.Özgen, nylon- and steel-string guitars(3,4)
Farewell
to Music by Turlough O’Carolan
Planxty John O’Connor (arranged by William Coulter)
M. Özgen, steel-string guitar(4)-W.Coulter, steel-string guitar(2)
Campbell’s - Traditional Irish
Shrivasta by William Coulter
The Anatolian Fault by William Coulter
W.Coulter, steel-string guitar(2)
Rumeli
Türküsü for two guitars by Mesut Özgen
M.Özgen, nylon-string guitar(3)-William Coulter, nylon-string guitar(1)
(1) Gil
Carnal classical-nylon-string guitar
(2) Jeff Traugott
steel-string guitar (DADGAD tuning)
(3) Simon Marty
classical-nylon-string guitar
(4) Ed
Claxton classical-steel-string guitar
INTERMISSION
The Rehearsal
(2004) by David Evan Jones (music and libretto)
Aleksey Bogdanov, baritone
Chad Kranak, tenor
Sheila Willey, soprano
Vlada Volkova-Moran, piano
Lucik Aprahamian, conductor
Brian Staufenbiel, stage director
About the Program
I wrote Yemen
Türküsü for two classical guitars with nylon strings.
Bill adapted one of the parts beautifully for steel-string guitar with DADGAD
tuning. The piece is based on a folk song from the city of Mus in eastern
Turkey (türkü means “folk song” in Turkish).
The song is about people who were sent to Yemen to fight in a battle against
Arabs during the Ottoman Empire. They all died in a place far away from their
homeland. The original melody is in 5/8 meter, a common meter in Turkish folk
music. I used 5/8, 9/8, and 3/8 meters in different sections. First and third
sections use the original tune in its entirety, whereas second and fourth
sections are set freely without using any part of the original tune.
Song of Yemen
There is
no cloud in the sky, why is there smoke?
There is no death today, why is there screaming and crying?
How though are those Yemen lands?
My god, it’s
Yemen, its rose is dying,
Those who go Yemen, I wonder why, never come back again
This is the city called Mus, its streets are all up on the hill
Those who go Yemen, I wonder why, never come back again
Anatolian Fantasy, written for guitarist Mark Hilliard Wilson, is my first composition that doesn’t include any traditional folk tunes, though I tried to add some folk-like melodies. Irregular rhythms, harmonics, and ostinato melodic patterns are used throughout the first section. The middle section, andante sostenuto, is in 9/8 meter with 5+4 grouping. The melody is comprised of long sustained notes at the top and a counter melody is in the bass. The arpeggiated inner voices contribute to the harmony with occasional major and minor second intervals. In the last section, I included some rhythmical patterns that imitate a performance technique used in playing saz, a plucked Turkish folk instrument, and integrated them into idiomatic guitar techniques. Some of the thematic material from the first section is also included in the last section.(M.Ö.)
Tango Cruz was written for the birthday of my Argentinean friend Cristina. Turkish style melodies and ornaments are blended into tango rhythm with a hint of traditional birthday tune in the middle section. The whole piece came out quickly in several hours rather like an improvisation than a longer compositional process, which was the case with other works in the program.(M.Ö.)
Turlough O’Carolan was an Irish harper and poet who lived from 1670-1738. His music has been passed down through the oral tradition and many of his tunes are now standards at Irish music sessions. His music was also published, perhaps as early as 1742, as single line melodies. These melodies have been arranged and harmonized by many guitarists. Tonight we hear arrangements of two of Carolan’s melodies: the Farewell to Music which was written on his deathbed, and Planxty John O’Connor, a tune written to honor one of Carolan’s patrons.(B.C.)
Campbell’s is a traditional Irish barndance usually played quite fast. Here it is played as a slow air. Shrivasta is the Sanskrit name for a Buddhist symbol, quite similar to a Celtic knot, which represents the interconnected nature of all things. I wrote the lament The Anatolian Fault a few years ago after the tragic earthquake in Turkey, which occurred along the Anatolian fault line.(B.C.)
Rumeli Türküsü is a generic term for light urban style Turkish folk music from Thrace. They are composed within the scales and melodic progression of the classical makam system. Since the 17th century, some of the most distinguished composers of Ottoman classical tradition have written light tunes in the form of türkü, forming a bridge between the élite and popular taste. When incorporating two original Rumeli Türküsü into this piece, I took Turkish scholar/composer Yalçin Tura’s harmonization techniques as a role model. It is just being completed and written specifically for this concert, so that I could play it in this concert with one of my favorite musicians.(M.Ö.)
Acknowledgements:
Mesut and Bill would like to thank Santa Cruz luthiers Ed Claxton,
Jeff Traugott, and Gil Carnal for building beautiful guitars for them; Brian
Staufenbiel and Lucik Aprahamian for stage setting and lighting; and Brook
Nielsen for sound work. Special thanks to Rick Turner and D-TAR/Duncan-Turner
Acoustic Research, Dave Morrison, Sabrina Eastwood, Jenni Meyer, David Evan
Jones, and Paul Nauert.