Ahmed Adnan Saygun's First String Quartet, while having key signatures for E-flat major/C minor, uses melodic material pointing to Turkish music modes (makamlar) and a harmonic idiom based on modal melody.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ataç Sezer, a contemporary composer, takes a different approach than Saygun, layering and interweaving disparate sounds and origins rather than amalgamating traditions into a single tonal language.
Historical Context
Turkey's path to a nation-state, following the Ottoman Empire's decline after World War I, was unique and largely shaped by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the Turkish Republic.
Historical Context
The album explores the notion of music cultures with a national identity, a concept that emerged with the formation of new nation states during the 19th century.
Composer Biography
Ahmed Adnan Saygun, a Turkish composer, was temporarily an assistant to Béla Bartók during Bartók's musical fieldwork in Anatolia.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ahmed Adnan Saygun, a Turkish composer, aimed for a Turkish contribution to a shared European musical language, taking Béla Bartók as his role model.
Performer Biography
The Asasello-Quartett, founded in Basel in 2000 and based in Cologne since 2005, is known for its intense exploration of music from the past and present, including commissioning new works.
