Turkish Fragments

Last updated

Turkish Fragments, Op. 62 (Russian : Тюркские Фрагменты) is an orchestral suite written in 1930 by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov and published in 1931. [1] [2] This suite is sometimes entitled as Orchestral Suite No. 3, even though there is no official numbering. This work for large orchestra was dedicated to Shevket Mamedova, an Azerbaijani soprano. [3]

Russian language East Slavic language

Russian is an East Slavic language, which is official in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as being widely used throughout Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, the Caucasus and Central Asia. It was the de facto language of the Soviet Union until its dissolution on 25 December 1991. Although, nowadays, nearly three decades after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian is used in official capacity or in public life in all the post-Soviet nation-states, as well as in Israel and Mongolia, the rise of state-specific varieties of this language tends to be strongly denied in Russia, in line with the Russian World ideology.

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Russian composer, conductor and teacher

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher. He music expanded from the late-Romantic era and into the 20th century era.

Azerbaijan republic in Western Asia and Eastern Europe

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and has an 11 km long border with Turkey in the northwest.

Contents

Structure

This suite has four movements and would take approximately 15 minutes to perform. The movements are listed as follows:

All of the movements use material drawn from Azerbaijani, Turkish, Uzbek and Kazakh folk music. The Turkish fragments contain dominant chimes strings and beats. The Caravan has a steady ambitious beat and a characteristic Turkish melody that goes on for the entire piece and the loudest of all the Fragments. At Rest is rhythmic but tranquil, with a central section of a livelier nature. Night is a peaceful, more quiet part and respects its name; it has plenty of Turkish melodies and also has a central, livelier section. Festival closes this suite. It consists of a dance, sounds upbeat and at times peaceful. [3]

Music of Azerbaijan overview of music traditions in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani music is the musical tradition of the Azerbaijani people, from Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan. It builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly 1,000 years. For centuries, Azerbaijani music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies. Music from Azerbaijan has a branch mode system, where chromatisation of major and minor scales is of great importance.

Turkish folk music

Turkish folk music combines the distinct cultural values of all civilisations that have lived in Turkey and its former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under one umbrella. It was the most popular music genre in the Ottoman Empire era. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Atatürk asked to make a wide-scale classification and archiving of samples of Turkish folk music from around the country, which was launched in 1924 and continued until 1953 to collect around 10,000 folk songs. In the 1960s, Turkish folk music met with radio and folk musicians like Aşık Veysel, Neşet Ertaş, Bedia Akartürk became the most popular names of the Turkish folk music. In the 1970s and 1980s, with the rising popularity of arabesque and Turkish light western, Turkish folk music has lost some ground, but singers like Belkıs Akkale, İzzet Altınmeşe, Selda Bağcan, Güler Duman and Arif Sağ made successful hit songs and became important representatives of the genre.

The music of Uzbekistan has reflected the diverse influences that have shaped the country. It is very similar to the music of the Middle East and is characterized by complicated rhythms and meters. Because of the long history of music in the country and the large number of different music styles and musical instruments, Uzbekistan is often regarded as one of the most musically diverse countries in Central Asia.

Notable recordings

Notable recordings of this suite include:

OrchestraConductorRecord CompanyYear of RecordingFormat
Singapore Symphony Orchestra Choo Hoey Marco Polo 1989CD [5]
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine Arthur Fagen Naxos Records 1995CD [6]

Related Research Articles

Caucasian Sketches is a pair of orchestral suites written in 1894 and 1896 by the Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. The Caucasian Sketches is the most often performed of his compositions and can be heard frequently on classical radio stations. The final movement of the Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1, entitled Procession of the Sardar, is often heard by itself, and is a favorite of "Pops" concerts.

Sonatina, Sz. 55, BB. 69 is a piece for solo piano written in 1915 by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Initially entitled Sonatina on Romanian folk tunes, it is based on folk tunes Bartók collected in his neighbour country Romania, which, even though he proclaimed Hungarian folk music was clearly superior, was a direct source of inspiration all along his active years.

The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated with longtime conductor Kiril Kondrashin under whom it premiered Shostakovich's Fourth and Thirteenth symphonies as well as other works. The Orchestra undertook a major tour of Japan with Kondrashin in April 1967 and CDs of the Japanese radio recordings have been made available on the Altus label.

Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, BB 68 is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915. He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1917 as Sz. 68, BB 76.

The Symphony No. 4 by Walter Piston is a symphony dating from 1950.

Herzgewächse, Op. 20, is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg scored for coloratura soprano, celesta, harmonium, and harp. The text is taken from a poem of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck. The duration of the work is approximately three-and-a-half minutes, making it the shortest of Schoenberg's works with an opus number. The work is also notable for the extreme demands made on the singer which at one point has to ascend to a high F (pianissimo), nearly two-and-a-half octaves above middle C.

No-res, a Symphonic Tragedy in Two Parts, also known as No-res, an Agnostic Requiem is a cantata for choir, orchestra, narrator and magnetic tape by Barcelonan composer Leonardo Balada. This work was finished on 1974 and represents a soundscape in which the composer recreates the relationship between himself and his mother when the latter was dying, to whom the work is dedicated. The lyrics were written exclusively for this composition by French poet Jean Paris. This is one of the most relevant works from the avant-garde period of Balada.

Four Orchestral Songs, Op. 22 is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, scored for soprano and large orchestra.

The Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9 is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1, Op. 10 is an orchestral suite composed in 1894 and one of the most representative works by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. Its final movement, entitled Procession of the Sardar, is often performed as a standalone composition and is a favorite in pop concerts.

Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 2, Op. 42 is an orchestral suite by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov written in 1896, after he moved to Moscow. The work is more commonly known by the subtitle Iveria, the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the ancient kingdom of Kartli, corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the country of Georgia today.

The Turkish March, Op. 55 is a composition by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, which was published in 1932 in Moscow.

Dance Suite, Sz. 77, BB 86a, is a well-known 1923 orchestral work by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The composer produced a reduction for piano in 1925, though this is less commonly performed.

Slovak Dance, sometimes also incorrectly referred to as Slovakian Dance, is a piece for solo piano by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. It was presumably composed in 1923, but it was not published until 1999.

Eight Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, Op. 20, Sz. 74, BB 83, also known as Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs or simply as Improvisations, is a composition for solo piano by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. It was finished in 1920.

Petite Suite, Sz. 105, BB 113 is a reduction for piano of six of Bartók's 44 Duos for Two Violins, arranged by the composer in 1936.

Romanian Christmas Carols, Sz, 57, BB 67 is a set of little colinde, typical Christmas songs from Romanian villages, habitually sung by small groups of children, adapted in 1915 by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók to be played on the piano after hearing them sung in the below villages.

The Divertimento is a 1994 composition for solo cello by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The piece is well known for its typical chromatic melodies and for its recurrent use of pizzicati and col legno.

References

  1. 1 2 Hofmeister: Musikalisch-literarischer Monatsbericht. ÖNB (Austrian National Library) (in German). Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. December 1931. Retrieved 2014-06-14. The suite was co-published by Universal Edition of Vienna and Russian State Publishers, Moscow.
  2. ↑ Сюита «Тюркские фрагменты»: У становища, симфоническая пьеса
  3. 1 2 Anderson, Keith (1995). Booklet from the CD 8.553405 from Naxos catalogue. New York: HNH International Ltd. pp. 3–4. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ "IPPOLITOV-IVANOV: Symphony No. 1 / Turkish Fragments". Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services Ltd. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  5. ↑ "Tracklist from the CD 8.220217 from the Naxos catalogue". Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services Ltd. 1990. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tracklist from the CD 8.553405 from the Naxos catalogue". Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services Ltd. 1995. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.