Ahmed Adnan Saygun: Symphonies 1 & 2

by Rheinland-Pfalz Staatsphilharmonie, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)

If you define classical music as Western-styled concert music, then you can count the number of great Turkish classical music composers on one hand. Turkey already has, selecting five of its pioneering figures from the early twentieth century as "The Turkish Five," and the most prominent among these names is that of Ahmed Adnan Saygun. At the request of Atatürk, Saygun composed the first Turkish opera, Özsoy, in 1934; one critic noted that Saygun "was to his country what Jean Sibelius is to Finland." Early in his career, ... Read More

If you define classical music as Western-styled concert music, then you can count the number of great Turkish classical music composers on one hand. Turkey already has, selecting five of its pioneering figures from the early twentieth century as "The Turkish Five," and the most prominent among these names is that of Ahmed Adnan Saygun. At the request of Atatürk, Saygun composed the first Turkish opera, Özsoy, in 1934; one critic noted that Saygun "was to his country what Jean Sibelius is to Finland." Early in his career, Saygun was noted for his command of the neo-classical idiom, but by the time Saygun got around to composing his Symphony No. 1 in 1953, Saygun had darkened it a bit; while there are still traces of Prokofiev's influence, Saygun's contact with Béla Bartók made a huge impression on him. Saygun's Symphony No. 2 followed a mere five years later -- he wrote five symphonies altogether -- and it covers similar territory. Both are combined on CPO's Ahmed Adnan Saygun: Symphonies 1 & 2... Read Less