Reverb 2015: Suite of Turkish Folk Songs

• published: 09 May 2015
• views: 33

14 March 2015 @ University Cultural Centre Theatre Arranged by: Tolgahan Çoğulu & Robert Casteels Conducted by: Robert Casteels Description: The Suite of Turkish Folk Songs comprises of a set of four movements. Imbued with a series of grand and crisp sounds, the varying pieces takes us through the rich emotions of love and longing, through the pains of war and through the questions of life and death. 1. Kara Toprak means black Earth. With lyrics and melody written by the famous Turkish minstrel Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu, the poem Kara Toprak celebrates the love and respect for nature. Each of the 11 stanzas of the poem ends with the same verse: “my faithful beloved is black soil”. The melody is based on the musical mode called “huseyni maqam” which has two microtones in its scale. Kara Toprak is originally played on the bağlama, a Turkish stringed folk instrument. 2. Yemen Türküsü (Yemen Song) is a folk tune from Anatolia, the region that corresponds to the Asian part of Turkey. During WWI, Turkish soldiers were sent from the eastern Turkish city of Muş to Yemen to fight against the British. The people of Muş wrote Yemen Türküsü in memory of all the Turkish soldiers who perished in the battle. The song closes with the following verse: “Girls cry to the ones who went to Yemen. Over there is Yemen…”. The melody contains one microtone. 3. Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim (I’m on a Long and Narrow Road) is another well-known song by Aşık Veysel, and deals with the inevitability of death. His songs are usually in sad tunes, questioning issues such as love, care, beliefs, and how he "saw" the world as man who was blind for most of his lifetime. In 2008, the song was remixed as the theme for a famous Turkish film series, Gece Gündüz (Night Day). 4. Xoş e Hewreman (Beautiful Hewreman) is a Kurdish folk song that Tolgahan Çoğulu arranged for a Kurdish ensemble called The Kamkars, a Kurdish family of seven brothers and a sister, who are one of the leading musical ensembles of traditional Kurdish and Persian music. Hewreman is a region in Iran where Kurds live, and Xoş means beautiful in Kurdî language. ______________________________________ Check out our latest videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/NusGuitarEnsemble Get in touch with us! Subscribe!! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nusguitarensemble Official site: http://nusguitarensemble.weebly.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NUSGuitarEnsemble Google+: https://plus.google.com/111236426014098937985/about CFA site: http://nus.edu.sg/cfa/our_talents/music/guitar.php ______________________________________ Tolgahan Çoğulu Designer of the adjustable microtonal guitar, Tolgahan Çoğulu is a classical guitarist with a unique repertoire of works which consist of microtonal folk songs and traditional classical guitar pieces. Do check out the link below! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TolgahanCogulu YouTube: http://www.youtube.com.sg/user/TolgahanCogulu Website: http://www.tolgahancogulu.com/en/