This concert begins with a talk by the conductor Cem Mansur. The Gedik Philharmonic Orchestra, under his direction, will then play Quiet City by the American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990). This piece dates from 1940 and is an adaptation of some incidental music that Copland had originally written for a play of the same name by Irwin Shaw. It is scored for cor anglais, trumpet and strings.
The programme continues with the Concerto for Piano Four Hands and Strings, Opus 38, completed by the Turkish composer Cem Esen in 2023. The soloists, Selin Şekeranber and Yudum Çetiner, who commissioned the work; describe themselves as ‘Duo Blanc et Noir’. The notes under the YouTube recording, in which the Karşıyaka Chamber Orchestra is being conducted by Murat Cem Orhan, describe the style of this piece as follows: ‘This music, dominated by mystical and romantic harmonies, contains traces of the French and Soviet schools, while the composer’s own style of chromaticism is intensely felt.’
In the final work on the programme, the orchestra will play Haydn’s four-movement Symphony No 102 in B flat major. This is the tenth of the 12 symphonies the composer wrote during his stay in London (which lasted from 1791 to 1795), and was premiered at the King’s Theatre in 1795. It is widely seen as one of the best Haydn wrote; it is said, however, that at the first performance a chandelier fell down into the auditorium, and that as a result of this untimely interruption the last movement had to be repeated. Fortunately, many members of the audience had come to the front of the stage to see Haydn more closely, thus escaping injury from the broken glass. (Be assured that no such dangers await the audience at the Süreyya Opera House.)
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
