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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Colorful Music with Exotic Near Eastern Flavor, 21 Jul 2005
I'm not sure why Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince (b. 1960) called the two large pieces here symphonies. They strike me more as tone poems or even as music for an imaginary movie. But whatever these pieces are, they are effective in establishing mental pictures of a scenario, described in some detail in the illuminating notes by eminent musicologist (and fellow Turk) Ates Orga. The Symphony No. 3 'Siege of Vienna' (1994-1995) describes in music the two unsuccessful attempts by the Ottomans to besiege and conquer Vienna as part of their campaign to make inroads into the European continent. The score calls for immense forces, including, among other instruments, a huge percussion battery, an electric bass, a synthesizer and a quartet of Wagner tubas. Depictions of cannon fire, Turkish military music (familiar to westerners from the Janissary music of such composers as Mozart), as well as middle eastern cantillation. In the section labeled 'Victorious City' one hears keening melancholy Turkish melodies as the Turks begin their retreat. All this is played (in excellent sound) with effectiveness by the Prague Symphony Orchestra under the composer. Symphony No. 4 'Sardis' (1999-2000) was commissioned by the director of excavations at the site of the ancient city of Sardis, roughly sixty miles east of modern Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey. An important crossroads, Sardis was conquered by the Persians and later by Alexander the Great, before being taken over by the Turks in the eleventh century. The symphony is in five sections that depict I. Hermus River, II. Necropol, III. Acropol, IV. Thousand Hills, and V. Tmolus Mountain, all located in or near the eponymous city of Sardis. Although some of the sections of this work feature the same kind of percussion-heavy sound heard in 'Siege of Vienna' there is much more in the nature of landscape painting, particularly lovely in the flowing 'Hermus River' and the mocking of human vanity in the 'Thousand Hills' sections. 'Tmolus Mountain' depicts a site sacred to Sardis's goddess, Cybele. It is located in a craggy mountainous area. An oboe depicts the sacred meaning of the site and stabbing tutti chords limn the all but impenetrable rocky landscape. The shortest work here is 'Domes.' An entirely winning nocturne that rarely rises above a mezzo forte. It is richly orchestrated, has gorgeous melodies, and conveys a kind of obsessiveness, according to the composer, representative of the Whirling Sufi Dervishes. Ince is a composer to investigate. He primarily writes instrumental music and if these three pieces are any indication, he combines real melodic skill and formal craft with fabulous abilities as an orchestrator. Scott Morrison
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