June 1996 Present Music
Kevin Stalheim, conductor
Walker Arts Center
Minneapolis, MN
Instrumentation
fl., ob., cl., bsn., alt. sax., trpt., perc., el. bass, pi./synth., vln., vla., vlc. Flexible instrumentation, min. req.: fl., cl. or ob., perc., pi./synth., and one string instrument. When possible, two strings are desirable (one being vln.)
Turquoise was composed in 1996 during three residencies at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis as part of the Music-in-Motion Project with Present Music (Milwaukee). The French word “turquoise” simply means “Turkish”, and so the title of this piece bears a double meaning: the brilliant jewel tone used in the lavish decorative arts of the Ottoman court, and the fact that this is a very Turkish piece indeed. Turquoise is highly twisted, with much use of heterophony common to the music of Anatolia. Heterophony is an essential unison with slight variations and embellishments that instruments contribute to the line/melody, giving it a sense of depth and space. At times the heterophonic textures are extended further with groups of instruments playing the lines completely out of sync. Most of the music is very fast, with a rock and roll like drive. There is a constant pounding of very fast and changing irregular meters, a characteristic of the music of the Black Sea (Turkey) region.
