Turkish Flavours

Turkish symphonic music Howard Griffiths has recorded a fascinating collection of symphonic music from Turkey together with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for PROSPERO CLASSICAL. Griffiths' interest in classical music from Turkey is no coincidence: the conductor considers himself very fortunate to have maintained close ties with Turkey, its culture and its people for more than 50 years. By marrying a Turkish violist and living in Ankara for almost 10 years, he had the opportunity to meet, listen to and perform music by many Turkish musicians, including the so-called "Turkish Five" of the pioneering generation of classical music in that country. These five composers, Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Cemal Resit Rey, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Necil Kâzim Akses and Ferit Alnar, encouraged by Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, looked to the West, particularly France and Germany, when composing for orchestra from the 1930s onwards. Many of the current generation look back to their own roots - albeit through the eyes of Western music. The greatest contrast with Western music can be seen, for example, in the use of aksak rhythms (irregular rhythms) and makams: these scales are very different from Western scales. Howard Griffiths decided to record a colorful and expressive "bouquet" of Turkish symphonic music for this album, giving representatives of the "Turkish Five" and Ferit Tüzün as a composer of the next generation a platform, and then presenting examples of music as it is composed today by Turkish composers, including the world-renowned pianist and composer Fazil Say.