Phoenix
It’s about time
Yes, it is about time for me to release another album of my compositions in contemporary music. The last one Periphery appeared in 2009. The subtitle featured “compositions for solo instruments and electronics sounds.” Now 11 years later, with a new one subtitled “solo and chamber music works,” I wanted to show you that I kept working and creating in this neoliberal environment that sucks the depth and joy of most of things and substitute them with shallowness and frivolousness. Consequently, most of the art that is around are sketchy gestures with cosmetic facades. I work hard for mine to not become one of those.
The album is called It’s about time. The title refers to an ensemble piece that I wrote in 2015. When we recorded that piece with Oerknal Ensemble in 2019, due to a computer malfunction we lost some of the takes of one of the sections of the piece. While considering not to include the piece to this collection, I had the idea to rethink it with what we have recorded. The form has changed which in turn changed the harmonic and sonic framework of the piece. So the new piece It was about time now it is not anymore is the only electroacoustic piece of the album. The composition of 2015, the acoustic version, gave its name to the album.
Music is a temporal art, everything we do is a function of Time. The object of our compositional act—sound— is bound with time. It is born within time, it exists only in time and it dies out with time. This is also true for its reception; listening to music takes time. Despite all the technological advances, there is not a formula, an algorithm nor a process that will enable you to listen to music in less time than it actually takes. This is a fortunate situation for us composers: if our music keeps the listeners interested, involved and engaged, they will lend us an ear for the time the music takes. Knowing that burdens us with responsibility and achieving that requires courage, endurance and hope. I know my music is not listener-friendly, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. After all, do you have to like everything your friends say?
The pain they left behind
melted into thin air
and became the baseless fabric
of what we call ourselves today
(2013)
for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and violoncello
This piece is dedicated to the victims Armenian Genocide and to those who still suffer the consequences.
Oerknal Ensemble
Gregory Charette: Conductor
Susanne Peters: Flute
Daniel Boeke: Clarinet
René van Munster: Violoncello
Jellantsje de Vries: Violin
Sophie Patey: Piano
Recorded at Bilgimusic Studios by Özgün Tuncer
Existo (2011)
for contrabass
from JE VOIS LE FEU. Yannick Haenel, text
Nicolas Crosse: contrabass
Recorded at Bilgimusic Studios by Ozan Yurdakul
Imaginary Neighborhoods of Athens: Dialogue at Monastraki (2018)
for large ensemble
Dialogue at Monastraki is a part of the larger composition Imaginary Neighborhoods of Athens that was commissioned by the Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens and was premiered by ARTéfacts and Ventus Ensembles, at The Athens School of Fine Arts on June 14, 2018.
ARTéfacts and Ventus Ensemble
Stathis Soulis: Conductor
Kostas Tzekos: Bass Clarinet
Guido De Flaviis: Baritone Saxophone
Recorded at The Athens School of Fine Arts by Giorgos Kostopoulos
and they fell…one by one (2015)
for guitar
William Anderson: guitar
Recorded at Bilgimusic Studios by Tolga Tüzün
Under Pressure (2009)
for Alto Saxophone and Bass Clarinet
DUO X
Naomi Sato: Alto Saxophone
Laura Carmichael: Bass Clarinet
Recorded at STEIM Amsterdam
Five Preludes For Violoncello (2013)
This piece is commissioned and premiered by Madeleine Shapiro at the Freer Gallery in Washington DC on March 5, 2014.
Eric-Maria Couturier: Violoncello
Recorded at Cité de la Musique, Grande Salle, Paris by Nicolas Berteloot
It was about time now it is not anymore (2015-2020)
for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello and electronics
This piece is dedicated to Oğuz Büyükberber who made every moment of our more than 25 year-long friendship full of joy, encouragement, compassion and music.
Oerknal Ensemble
Gregory Charette: Conductor
Susanne Peters: Flute
Daniel Boeke: Clarinet
René van Munster: Violoncello
Christian Smith: Percussion
Jellantsje de Vries: Violin
Sophie Patey: Piano
Recorded at Bilgimusic Studios by Özgün Tuncer
Cross-Sections / Kesitler
1. Blueprint for lhan Mimaroğlu (2004)
for clarinet and piano
This piece is written for 78th birthday of İlhan Mimaroğlu.
Laura Carmichael: Clarinet
Tolga Tüzün: Piano
Recorded at Q Factory Amsterdam by Tolga Tüzün
Concrete Art
New Album by Tolga Tüzün
Estimate Map
New Album by Tolga Tüzün (Piano) and Özgür Yılmaz (contrabass)
“Swamped” by NOT Trio
Ned McGowan – Piccolo, Flute and Contrabass Flute
Oguz Buyukberber – Eb, Bb, Bass and Contrabass Clarinets
Tolga Tuzun– Piano
Oğuz Büyükberber, Ned McGowan and Tolga Tüzün come together once again as Not Trio, this time with a new program of experimental and eloquent works originating from the thought and expressive processes of these three accomplished performer/composers. Compositions with improvisations make up the bulk of the works here as their collaboration takes a big step to greater depths of listening, timing, communicating and carefully choosing their expressions from each one’s broad musical experiences.
About their first fully improvised album “Injured”, Henk Jenssen of De Klarinet magazine enthusiastically mentioned the link he sees/hears to the famous “Het Trio” which was one of the most formative Dutch contemporary music groups for many decades. As a former student of Harry Sparnaay who’s one of the founders of Het Trio, Büyükberber of course was already aware of this link even when he asked Tüzün and McGowan for a session. Sparnaay was especially excited about this second session since contrabass clarinet and contrabass flute were also added to the rich sound pallet of this small group. Sadly, his loss shook the modern music community before this release could be completed.
Not Trio dedicates this album to the memory of Harry Sparnaay.
Multiple Wounds (2018)
Solo Piano
Multiple Wounds is my first solo piano album that is the result of eight hours of playing in a studio.
It is a total improvisation oscillating between jazz and electronic music as well as contemporary composition and Turkish music; a personal reflection on various esthetic forms and styles, threading continuously “in-between”; a sonic thinking situation on “what does 15 years of contemporary composing translate into,” or “where does improvisation extend beyond jazz?”.
Instead of playing inside the piano, staying on keys and thinking “out loud” about my latest harmonic interests…
And the name of the album might refer to the wounds I suffered in the morning of the recording session from a taxi driver closing the window on my 4th and 5th finger and driving off. Or it might allude to an auto-immune disease. Or you might think to other kind of wounds that we suffer everyday lately.
Some wounds heal, some don’t. I choose to not let my wounds to postpone my life. That is why I did not postpone the recording; I take full responsibility for the dirty passages and the shortcomings that you might hear. Needless to say, I gladly take the responsibility for the moments that you might like.
Multiple Wounds is not “easy music”. What is easy in life? If my “thinking out loud” tires you, turn it off. Maybe one day, you might turn it on again if I convinced you enough that I love what I do. Or you move on. Life is short.
Mix: Tolga Tüzün
Mastering: Hakan Kurşun
Recording: Arda Keremoğlu ve Can Bora Genç
Tales of Angst, Numbness and Hypertension (2018)
In the following days of the recording session of my solo piano album “Multiple Wounds,” Çağlayan Yıldız, Can Kozlu and I recorded a trio album. We played nonstop for two days, sometimes around some structures that I proposed, sometimes in a total flow of consciousness. Produced by Oğuz Büyükberber, “Tales of Angst, Numbness and Hypertension” makes an appearance as an improvisatory album with Engin Recepoğulları who joined in as a guest in two tracks.
Even though the combo of piano, bass and drum is reminiscent of a classical jazz piano trio, “Tales of Angst, Numbness and Hypertension” is not a pianist album. It is more of a musical situation wherein three soloists listen to each other, sometimes speak at the same time and open spaces for each other via mutual interaction.
And the title: Although its references are clear for us, I leave to the agility of your imagination to make sense out of it. So is true for the music.
Tolga Tüzün: Piano
Çağlayan Yıldız: Electric Bass
Can Kozlu: Drums
Engin Recepoğulları: Soprano Saxophone
Mix: Tolga Tüzün
Mastering: Hakan Kurşun
Recording: Arda Keremoğlu ve Can Bora Genç
Çağlayan Yıldız plays with his own design Özgür Turan Bass.
injured by NOT Trio
piano: tolga tüzün
flute & piccolo: ned mcgowan
soprano & bass clarinet: oğuz büyükberber
cover photo: peri sharpe
cover design: buket erkmen
İstanbul 2013
Tracks can be downloaded from Müzik Hayvanı
Seeding
with Berke Can Ozcan
Available at:
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/seeding/id531902223
- http://amzn.com/B0088WKVQ0
- http://www.last.fm/music/Tolga+T%C3%BCz%C3%BCn+&+Berke+Can+Ozcan/Seeding
Superimposed Circumstances
with Korhan Erel
Available at:
- http://www.amazon.com/Superimposed-Circumstances/dp/B0088V16CO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341336292&sr=8-1
- http://www.last.fm/music/Tolga+Tüzün+&+Korhan+Erel/Superimposed+Circumstances
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/superimposed-circumstances/id532005549?i=532005710&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
SOnuMUT (2012)
electroacoustic works
01. L’esprit de l’escalier
02. Diaphanous Stones
03. Vulgaire Obscur
04. Plugged
Tracks can be downloaded from Müzik Hayvanı
periphery (2009)
electroacoustic works for solo instrument and electronics
published by AK Müzik
01-my dear nightmares, sincerely yours
02-Metathesis
03-Along the Borderline: the Breath and the Gaze
04-Le Déchirement des Pétales
nix (2000)
1-Duman
2-Ret
3-Dalyan
4-Nardis
5-Takdim-i Mavi
6-Mavi
7-Zümrüd-ü Anka
8-Perisphere
9-Kaf Dağı
10-Süleyman’ın Sarayında Bir Gece
11-Nix
12-Yuvarlak Zar
13-Ballad No: 1
14-Bileşik Kaplar Teorisi
You can order Nix from Kalan Muzik.