Salzburg hosts premiere for Say’s “Universe Symphony” on Oct 7th

Universe, the newest symphony by Turkish composer and pianist Fazil Say will be given its premiere on 7 October 2012 by the Mozarteum Orchestra at the Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg. Principal conductor Ivor Bolton will conduct the programme which will be the first Sunday matinee of the season, and will also include Johannes Brahms’ Third Symphony and Say performing the Mozart Piano Concerto K. 488 .

Commissioned by the Mozarteum Orchestra, Universe is Say’s third symphony following Istanbul Symphony (2010) and Mesopotamia Symphony (2008).

Universe is divided into six pieces, each of which reflects the fascination and peculiarity of the cosmos, and the listener experiences a range of different astronomical phenomena, from a supernova to the storms on Jupiter.

“Expansion of the Universe” begins Say’s musical voyage in which symbolism is inherent, with major tonality for nature, minor tonality for human objects, and recurrent chaos illustrated in atonal passages. To musically represent the mystery and strangeness of the universe, Say uses a barrage of uncommon instruments: in “Venus”, a waterphone symbolises mortal fear; the extraterrestrial in “Earth-like planet Gliese 581 g” is illustrated by the rounded timbre of the UFO drum (or hang) and the theremin, and the unexpected tone of the daxophone, a friction idiophone.

My compositions follow me everywhere. I am composing all the time, at the airport, in car, at night, in the morning. A great silence comes over me while composing. Sometimes, it feels like hallucination. (Fazil Say)

The German premiere of Universe will take place on 10 November as part of Fazil Say Night in Frankfurt, where the composer is Artist in Residence of the Hessischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. Under the baton of Howard Griffiths, the hr-Symphony will also perform Say’s Istanbul Symphony.

Fazil Say – composer profile
Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg

06.10.2012
BTT