INCE - OraStream

KAMRAN INCE
Galatasaray
Symphony No. 5
Requiem
Without Words
Hot, Red,
Cold, Vibrant
Before Infrared
Uyar • Gündüz • Erdener
Kırkyıldız • Kuntasal
Dağüstün • Özgen • Çabuk
Turkish Ministry of
Culture Choir
Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
Kamran Ince
Kamran Ince (b. 1960)
Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant • Symphony No. 5 ‘Galatasaray’
Requiem Without Words • Before Infrared
Kamran Ince earned his reputation for audacity with such
pieces as Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant, written in 1992 for the
California Symphony. His explicit intent was to capture
the driving energy of rock on his own terms. This he did,
in a juggernaut of a piece that bulls ahead on brawny
ostinato figures in the low brasses and low strings and
shrieking, gestural, intermittent bits of melody in the high
woodwinds. The locomotive rhythm and the substantial
amount of repetition in Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant bring
Minimalism to mind, but forget about easing into a
Minimalist trance. Ince’s locomotive frequently jumps
the tracks by skipping or adding beats or by crashing to a
sudden halt. Fearsome, unpredictable whacks on the bass
drum jolt the ear and throw off the expected accents. This
wild, bumpy ride of a piece clamours for 9 minutes and
32 seconds of undivided attention.
Compared with Hot, Red, Ince’s Symphony No. 5
‘Galatasaray’ is smooth sailing. He composed this
symphony in 2005, on the occasion of the hundredth
anniversary of the founding of Galatasaray, Turkey’s most
storied and successful football club, under a commission
from Muzikotek. It is for orchestra, choir, female and
male solo voices and boy soprano. The composer
conducted the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra as the piece
had its first performance in Istanbul, in December 2005.
The Fifth Symphony is an epic occasional piece and
among Ince’s most conservative works, in terms of
harmony and consistency of tone. As always, Ince selects
chords for the quality of their sonorities and eschews
functional tonality, but this symphony is generally more
consonant and perhaps less raucous than the typical
Kamran Ince work. Both İzzeddin Çalışlar’s text and
Ince’s score celebrate the glories of the Galatasaray club
without irony. The grand, official poetry matches the
musical language, which leans toward a post-modernist
take on hymns and solemn marches. In the third move-
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ment, a swaggering advance in 3/4 time underpins building
pre-match excitement, anticipated in sung dialogue
between tenor and boy soprano. They are passing down
traditions of Galatasaray fandom that date to 1905. With
its soloists and chorus and reverent and rousing words
and music, the Symphony No. 5 is like an oratorio devoted
to a football team.
Requiem Without Words was commissioned by the
Istanbul International Music Festival. It mourns the
Muslims, Christians and Jews killed in the 2003 terror
bombings in Istanbul. It had its première in 2005 during
the festival, in Hagia Sophia, the ancient Byzantine
church, later mosque, and current state museum and
monument to modern, secular Turkey, by the Istanbul
Modern Music Ensemble.
An ‘ethnic singer’ opens with a microtonally-inflected
wail of a melody, very raw and instantly recognizable in
any culture on earth as a cry of grief. Words would be
superfluous. A mournful chorus sustains emotional impetus until cut off by a pounding, brutal instrumental
passage driven by an implacable bass drum. That sound,
punctuated by grief-stricken outcries, speaks of the cruelty
and danger in the world. Later, Ince adds a choral Babel
of nonsense syllables to simulate the panic and confusion
in the aftermath of an attack. At another point, a clarinet
calls out a repeated rhythm on a single note; it could be
an emergency vehicle’s siren. None of this is literal; the
music has no narrative or programme. But no aware
citizen of the modern world could miss its meaning. When
the noise finally stops, a melody drifts down gentle and
pure as a snowflake. Even in a violent world, beauty
remains possible. At the very end of the Requiem, a long
choral sigh, a free-form impression of a Byzantine chant,
descends as if from heaven. Even in a hateful, violent
world, final peace is not only possible but inevitable –
for all of us. Requiescat in pacem.
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Ince wrote Before Infrared (1986) as a companion
piece to Infrared Only (1985). Before Infrared also stands
complete on its own as a twelve-minute journey. It opens
with a heaving, low groaning suggestive of a great iron
beast awakening from slumber. A pulse rises so gradually
from the orchestra that you barely realize that the music
is moving until the train has left the station. This is
travelling music not of the airy, gliding sort. The music
brightens but does not lighten. The groaning weight heard
at the outset persists with the stepped-up velocity. The
music creates a sense of great mass hurtling through a
vast space. Trumpets call out rapid alarms in the night.
Intense, deep drumbeats pound at intervals. Day breaks in
a chiming melody of hocketing, overlapping brasses nine
minutes into the trip. The pace relaxes, the music lightens
ever so gradually and we arrive at our final destination, a
bright and shimmering aural Shangri-la.
Tom Strini
Kamran Ince conducting the première of Symphony No. 5 ‘Galatasaray’ in 2005
Photo by Hakan Yelkencioğlu (used by permission)
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Kamran Ince
With numerous prizes, including the Prix de Rome, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Lili Boulanger Prize, Kamran
Ince has distinguished himself in particular as a composer able to bridge East and West. Born in Montana in 1960 to
American and Turkish parents, he was brought up in Turkey, and trained at the Ankara and Izmir State Conservatories
(theory, cello, piano), before returning to America at the beginning of the 1980s to work with Christopher Rouse and
Joseph Schwantner at Oberlin and the Eastman School of Music, gaining his doctorate. He currently serves as Professor
of Composition at the University of Memphis and as Co-Director of MIAM at Istanbul Technical University. Leading
orchestras throughout the world perform his works and concerts devoted to his music have been heard at the Holland
Festival, CBC Encounter Series in Toronto, the Istanbul International Music Festival, the Estoril Festival in Lisbon,
and the Cultural Influences in Globalization Festival in Ho Chi Minh City. Projects include Far Variations (2009),
commissioned by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music for the Los Angeles Piano Quartet; Concerto for Orchestra
Turkish Instruments and Voices (2009), for the Turkish Ministry of Culture; Dreamlines (2008), celebrating the
centennial of the Turkish Chamber of Architects; Music for a Lost Earth (Ambient Music Project) (2007); Gloria
(Everywhere) (2007), for Chanticleer’s Mass Project; Turquoise (2005), various works arranged for the Netherlands
Blazers Ensemble; and his Fifth Symphony ‘Galatasaray’ (2005), in honour of the Turkish football club’s centennial
celebrations. His recordings for Naxos include his Symphony No.3 ‘Siege of Vienna’ and Symphony No. 4 ‘Sardis’.
He continues to work on Judgement of Midas, an opera commissioned by Crawford Greenewalt, Jr. III, to mark the
fiftieth anniversary of the Sardis excavations in Turkey. His music is published by Schott Music Corporation.
Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1993 as an original artistic project of Bilkent University. Developed
by the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, the orchestra is composed of over ninety proficient artists and
academicians of the Faculty from Turkey and twelve countries. With these characteristics the Bilkent Symphony
Orchestra is the first private, international and academic artistic ensemble in Turkey. With Turkish and foreign guest
conductors, soloists and choirs, the orchestra has distinguished itself through its season of over eighty concerts a
year. Bilkent Music Production, Naxos, CPO, Alpha and EMI have released over fifty CDs of the orchestra. Through
events such as the Bilkent Concert Series, Turkish Composers’ Week, Education Concerts and The Bilkent International
Anatolia Music Festival, the orchestra aims to bring a wide range of activities to large audiences, to spread the
appreciation of music at national level, undertake international activities and develop cooperation with institutions
abroad.
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Symphony No. 5, ‘Galatasaray’
Text by İzzeddin Çalışlar (translated from Turkish)
2 1st movement
Galatasaray.
Speak. Tell me.
Where does this love come from?
Tell me. Reveal the secret.
What’s the reason for this pride, this passion?
Listen!
We also asked those questions.
We were kids.
Listen!
One day you will wake up and realize that
there is someone else in you as well.
Then you are part of us and
you will become a lion.
Lion!
The voice that says “re re re ra ra ra,” will be a
special one.
Your heart beat will change.
Like a lion…
Like a lion!
With birth, with growth, on this path…
One heart beating.
It is of two colours.
Today you woke up.
Two colours, red and yellow in you!
Re re re ra ra ra.
On this path…
When you, with your growth, when you join…
The choir will grow larger,
the lion will roar louder.
Once snow balls, we became an avalanche.
This is the answer:
You took a step towards our common memory;
a large step.
You have become a true lion.
You talked when there was silence,
you joined us.
You came to exist out of a void.
I grew one step and became a lion.
With re re re ra ra ra,
I found another me within me.
3 2nd movement
I saw, I heard, see!
I ran, see!!
I won’t be silent anymore.
My path is correct.
Your path is correct.
Who ran first?
Who first established this dream?
Who was the one who spoke in my dream?
It was the first president.
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See, it was him!
I asked: “What’s your name? Who are you?”
He said: “Ali Sami Yen,”
and “You must now recruit all,”
Then he ran and flew away…
He is always with us.
He lives in our hearts,
remembered at every victory.
He was alone at first.
Then the numbers multiplied.
Steps produced more steps;
they ran, rejoiced.
They spoke:
“A colour, a name is needed.
Let’s compete to be European
and defeat the non-Turkish teams,”
We heard your voice.
We heard and honoured your words.
We stayed on your path without straying.
We won the biggest cup. We did it!
4 3rd movement
Prepare for the show.
Be ready in the stands,
Dress suitably in two colours.
Count 1, 3, 500, 1000.
One side yellow, the other red.
This is the power that makes all one!
A huge celebration is beginning.
Rejoice, wear your flag,
know that they will hear you well.
You are one in a crowd,
but as though on the field competing.
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Re re re, ra ra ra Cimbom,
Hear me.
Prepare for the show.
Be ready in the stands,
dress suitably in two colours.
Count! 1, 3, 1000;
this is an incredible energy!
On this historic day,
when a century became yesterday.
As we witness this moment
with all the fans,
nothing will be the same again.
We discovered the spirit here,
never to be lost.
We will keep it always
in our hearts.
As we are promising here,
nothing will be the same again.
We discovered the spirit here.
I was a snowball,
then became an avalanche.
My weak sound is now a roar.
Tomorrow will be a different day.
Tomorrow a new era begins.
101st year is your era.
I hear him.
He found himself.
I feel strange.
Our son has became a lion.
A true lion.
As he found the path today,
he is reborn.
I hear him.
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5 4th movement
Every minute
as someone new joins us
we get larger and stronger.
It will continue
the way in which it came to us.
It won’t finish or lessen.
It’s a stream that won’t tire or calm.
No one knows its source.
A century has passed.
A new one welcomes us
and announces the future.
As we need to extend to the future,
our sources will never dry up
but get stronger,
rivers that don’t stop
create all the myths.
We run with every step
with someone new joining.
This myth continues and grows
as the whole world watches us
with envy.
History writes it this way!
The facts will be written by history
and history will be written by these steps,
these giant steps.
Cim bom, cim bom.
There will be those
who put us down.
Don’t be affected, don’t listen.
It is jealousy.
No response is the answer.
He taught me, and showed me the facts
in my dreams.
He put down a date with hand and pencil
a century ago
in class at Galatasaray high school.
History wrote about the founding
in 1905 this way.
When no one was around.
Cim bom, my cim bom, my life
tell me what you want.
I will do anything.
It is not a coincidence.
We seized it.
Your love cannot be exchanged
with anything else on this earth.
You are the only king of the universe.
There are many songs to be sung for you.
There is so much space in our hearts
for our love for you.
Galatasaray.
Text reproduced by permission of İzzeddin Çalışlar
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Rehearsing under the Galatasaray club flag
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Photo by İzzeddin Çalışlar (used by permission)
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Also available:
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NAXOS
NAXOS
8.572553
Playing Time
Kamran
75:38
INCE
(b. 1960)
1 Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant (1992)
9:33
Symphony No. 5 ‘Galatasaray’ (2005)* 33:14
11:29
7:48
6:06
7:48
*Tülay Uyar, Soprano • Levent Gündüz, Tenor • Anil Kırkyıldız, Boy Soprano
Turkish Ministry of Culture Choir
**Selva Erdener, Ethnic Voice • Olça Kuntasal, Soprano
Güvenç Dağüstün, Baritone • Neva Özgen, Kemençe • Ali Çabuk, Tambur
Bilkent Symphony Orchestra
Kamran Ince
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The translated text may also be downloaded from www.naxos.com/libretti/572553.htm
Recorded at Bilkent Concert Hall, Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey,
December 2005 (tracks 2–5), June 2006 (1, 6) & June 2007 (7)
Producer & Editor: Jiri Heger • Engineers: Jiri Heger, Nergame Pireaux • Mastering: Reuben de Lautour
Publishers: Schott Music Corporation (tracks 1, 6, 7); Muzikotek Music Publishing (Turkey) (2–5)
Booklet notes: Tom Strini • Cover Photo © Mikael Damkier / Dreamstime.com
 & 훿 2011
Naxos Rights International Ltd.
Booklet notes and sung text in English
20:09
12:30
Made in Germany
2 I.
3 II.
4 III.
5 IV.
6 Requiem Without Words (2004) **
7 Before Infrared (1986)
KAMRAN INCE: Symphony No. 5 ‘Galatasaray’
DDD
www.naxos.com
KAMRAN INCE: Symphony No. 5 ‘Galatasaray’
The driving energy of Turkish/American composer Kamran Ince’s Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant
recalls the motoric rhythms of John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine with some unexpected jolts added. Written for soloists, chorus and large orchestra in 2005, the rousing
Symphony No. 5 celebrates the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Galatasaray,
Turkey’s most successful football club. Requiem Without Words mourns the Muslims, Christians and Jews killed in the 2003 terrorist bombings in Istanbul, while Before Infrared creates
a sense of a great mass of sound hurtling towards a bright and shimmering Shangri-la.