Ğumu'ah
[2015]
Commissioned by the DRK International Young Composers Residency Singapore
instrumentation: oboe and piano
duration: 7'
composed during: 03/16/2015 - 04/27/2015
composed in: Salzburg_Munich_Frankfurt am Main_Leipzig_Tolstefanz
dedicated to: Ensemble SurPlus
performances:
- 01/31/2018_Yapi Kredi Concert Hall_Istanbul_Turkey_Hezarfen Ensemble
- 10/28/2015_Mozarteum University_Salzburg_Austria_oboe: Melanie Rothman_ piano: Nicholas Young
- 06/12/2015_NUS_Singapore_Singapore_Ensemble SurPlus_oboe: Christian Kemper_piano: Eun Ju Kim
program note:
In Ǧumu’ah, I aim to achieve a consistent and adequate manner for handling the piano in the 21st century, which includes microtonality, and pair it with the oboe in a chamber music context. I confine myself mainly to sounds of various tuning fork techniques inside the piano, which have a spectra from very fragil to pure sounds, while preserving microtonal aspects. The handling of the piano, used in A.Q.A.R. [2014] for ensemble and fixed media and A.Q.II [2015] for amplified piano and fixed media, continues here. The tuning fork has a symbolic character in my work and symbolises the human voice.
Ǧumu’ah in Arabic/Turkish means Friday. It refers to the Islamic Friday Prayer and the Qur’an-Recitations contained in this prayer. The overall form of Ǧumu’ah derives from the formal sequence of the Friday Prayer and the surahs (chapters), which are recited (Fatiha - A’la - Ghāshiya - Fatiha - Fajr). The compositional research of the Qur’an-Recitation, free of any ideology and dogmatism, is not well-explored in art music even now, and is thus an avantgarde working field. My work tries in a critical and discursive manner to make this research and is thus in the spirit of avantgarde. Discursive interculturality in the art music of the 21st century is of high priority in our global age and can drive new musical developments. Through aural and structural integration of various elements of the Qur’an-Recitation in a critical and discursive way, I want to contribute with my work to the artistic development on a global and intercultural level.