Cihat Aşkın, founder of the Aromsa Youth Orchestra, and soloist Duru Önhon
In this concert, the Aromsa Youth Chamber Orchestra – the brainchild of violin virtuoso, mentor and conductor Cihat Aşkın – is to play a selection of works that includes pieces by Turkish composers, the event being intended to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
The programme is to consist of the following: a work described in the programme as ‘Grieg’s Swan Lake Suite No 1’ that in reality is probably Grieg’s 1875 Peer Gynt Suite No 1, Opus 23; Mozart’s 1775 Violin Concerto No 4 in D major, K 218 (soloist – Duru Onhon); the Demet (‘Bouquet’) Suite by the Turkish composer, educator and author Muammer Sun (1932–2021), who founded the TRT Ankara Radio Polyphonic Chorus, the TRT’s Music Department and a large number of children’s and youth choirs; an arrangement of a folk song from Thessaloniki entitled Bülbülüm Altın Kafeste (‘My Nightingale is in a Golden Cage’); an arrangement of Efem, one of the most famous songs by the Ottoman and Turkish librettist and composer Kaptanzâde Ali Rıza Bey (1881-1934); Two Tangos by the Turkish violinist and composer Necip Celal Andel (1908-57), whose 1928 tango Mazi Kalbimde Yaradır (‘The Past is a Wound in My Heart’) is seen as the first piece of polyphonic music to win popular approval in Turkey; O. Sarı’s İnce Memet for solo violin and string orchestra; and O. Sarı’s Aşalım.
Cihat Aşkın, founder of the Aromsa Youth Orchestra, and soloist Duru Önhon
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
