蜜芽传媒

Donald Macleod explores the Turkish Five's continued links with the West including Ahmet Adnan Saygun's visit to the UK and his meeting with British composer Michael Tippett.

In 1923 the Turkish Republic came into being. On the agenda for the founding father and first president, Mustafa Kemal Atat葪rk, was the aim to develop a new Turkish musical language, and to disassociate culturally with the Ottoman past. This new musical culture would be a blend of traditional Turkish music, in combination with Western classical music. The Republic funded musicians to study in Europe, who were then expected to return to Turkey and develop what they had learned. Through this cultural exchange, Western music began to be experienced more widely by audiences across Turkey, whilst Turkish music was also introduced to listeners around the world, including Europe and the USA.

A group of composers known as the Turkish Five were pioneers in this movement to form a synthesis between East and West. They included Cemal Re艧it Rey (1904-1985), Ulvi Cemal Erkin (1906-1972), Hasan Ferit Alnar (1906-1978), Ahmet Adnan Saygun (1907-1991) and Necil K芒zim Akses (1908-1999). The Turkish Five became hugely influential in their home country as composers, teachers, conductors and artistic directors, and also became well known abroad, receiving many honours.

After World War Two, the Turkish Five continued to develop their ties with the West. It was in during a visit to Madrid in 1953 that Cemal Re艧it Rey composed his symphonic poem Fatih Sultan Mehmet 鈥淟e Conquerant鈥�. Hasan Ferit Alnar developed his career as a conductor not only in Turkey, but also in Austria and Germany. Ahmet Adnan Saygun was invited to Britain as part of a cultural exchange. Prof. Mine Do臒antan-Dack, and Dr. Emre Araci join Donald Macleod once again, to explore this period and the music composed.

Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Piano Quintet (Ritmico e en茅rgico)
Deniz Arman Gelenbe, piano
Budapest Haydn Quartet

Necil K芒zim Akses
Andante (Ten Piano Pieces)
Beyza Yazgan, piano

Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Halay, Op 25 (Anadolu鈥檇an)
Zeynep 脺莽ba艧aran, piano

Ahmet Adnan Saygun
String Quartet No 2, Op 35 (Grave)
Quatuor Danel

Cemal Re艧it Rey
Fatih Sultan Mehmet 鈥淟e Conquerant鈥�
Hungarian State Orchestra
Cem Mansur, conductor

Hasan Ferit Alnar
Concerto for Q膩n奴n and String Orchestra (Allegro poco moderato)
Tahir Aydo臒du, Q膩n奴n
Anadolu Yayl谋 脟alg谋lar D枚rtl眉s眉

Produced by Luke Whitlock