Credits:

Friedemann Eichhorn

Description:

Widely admired as a pianist of exceptional individuality and with a large following, the Turkish-born Fazl Say is also a fine composer with a substantial body of works to his name. Written in 1997, the Violin Sonata No. 1 is full of the fresh sensibility of youth and makes effective use of Turkish motifs; the second movement in particular is a striking piece that calls to mind “jazz played in a Turkish palace”, while the finale contains a phrase closely resembling Say’s popular Black Earth. His most recent work, the Violin Sonata No. 2 “Mount Ida”, was written as a protest: Say was moved to lament the large-scale deforestation carried out in order to mine gold at Mount Ida, a site of religious veneration in Turkey since ancient times. The sonata opens with arresting hammered piano chords, and unfolds through a series of episodes birdsong from the violin in the second movement, a dance-l