Zamboturfidir was commissioned by Arts Council of Ireland 2011. Composed for the combination of the Irish group Yurodny and the Turkish group Hezarfen, it is scored for baritone saxophone, bass trombone, percussion, piano, three violins, two violas, two cellos with an optional bass part. It was composed in 2012. The title zamboturfidir is completely made up. The only logical sequence of letters in it are “tur” for Turkey and “ir” for Ireland. I did spend quite a bit of time finding the word, with the principal criteria being how it sounded with its representation of the general sound of the piece. The edgy sounds of strings, wild baritone saxophone, tenor trombone and certain percussion instruments were of special interest to me in this work. Written in nine short movements with hit and run tactics, I was certainly thinking of the wild aspects of Turkish folk music, Ottoman classical music, with Irish music never far from my thoughts in my own way.
