Azure

Item details

• Description +

  • Preface
    
    As a child or adult, I have spent unforgettable times around the Mediterranean coasts or on the prince islands of Istanbul. During the covid time, I had enormous longing or in german "Sehnsucht" for the sea. So I started to hear the piece as a journey, along the coasts around the waves, people, and cities. It is like an imaginary journey and returning to the same haven to share the stories.
    
    The marimba solo and tape play together and complete each other rather than the tape being in background accompaniment. I had a Turkish pop influence that I grew up with, and it evolved more to the IDM world (intelligent dance music) that I like to listen to and produce. So I always wanted to combine marimba with those sound worlds.
    
    I had immense fun during the composing process; I hope you will also have it while playing!
    
    Emil Kuyumcuyan

• Instrumentation +

  • Marimba (5.0 Octave) with Tape

• Watch+

  • Performance by Emil Kuyumcuyan (Web Premiere)
    
    

• About the composer +

  • Percussionist Emil Kuyumcuyan was born in Istanbul. He has Armenian, Greek, African, and Croatian roots. Emil, tours internationally as a solo percussionist, as a soloist at Les Percussions de Strasbourg, as a guest performer with ensembles including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre Nationale de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Opéra de Paris and in numerous collaborative projects spanning a wide range of musical genres including contemporary classical chamber music, original compositions and music theatre. 2019 saw the debut of his first audio-visual piece entitled ‘ISTANBUL I the roots’
    
    As an acclaimed percussionist, Emil won first prize at the "Tromp International Percussion Competition“, one of the most renowned percussion competitions. His other accolades include a first prize win as a soloist at the "Stockholm International Music Competition” and prize win for his trio “Talking Drums” at the "International Percussion Competition Luxembourg". He has also received grants and scholarships from organizations like Yamaha Foundation Europe, Deutschlandstipendium, Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg, Nguyen Thien Dao Scholarship, Adami, and the Alfred-Toepfer-Foundation. In 2016 he was awarded the DAAD Prize (German Academic Exchange Service).
    
    As an active composer, he has received commissions from the IPEA Competition Shanghai and the Philharmonie Cologne (KoelnMusik).
    
    Following his musical education under Turgut Mehmet Sökmen at the "Mimar Sinan Istanbul State Conservatory", Emil Kuyumcuyan studied in Germany with Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher, Juergen Spitschka and Harald Loehle at the "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart" and subsequently with Jean Geoffroy at "CNSMD Lyon" in France.
    
    Emil Kuyumcuyan gives masterclasses internationally and has shared his artistic expertise with institutes such as "Emesp São Paulo", "Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow", "Gnessin Institute Moscow", and his alma mater in Stuttgart. Since 2021 he teachs at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) as visiting tutor in snare drum.

• Reviews +

  • Percussive Notes, February 2023
    
    “Azure” is an advanced, nine-minute work for solo marimba and tape suitable for a professional player or advanced university student. Commissioned for the 7th World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart, Germany (2022), it requires the performer to groove comfortably in constantly changing odd meters along with a click track. While the marimba part does not present an overwhelming technical challenge, it requires a substantial level of musical maturity. Along with the score, the player is granted access to the backing track with and without click track.
    
    The composer cites a longing, or Sehnsucht, for the sea as the primary influence for the piece. The music immediately puts the listener on an island coast, with the first 40 seconds of tape introducing a soothing aquatic timbre and distant bird calls. After a short ritardando, the marimbist enters into a duet with the tape, which now presents the sounds of fleeting waves and a thick, resonant bass line reminiscent of electronic dance music. The audio playback becomes increasingly intense and unapologetically electronic, while the marimbist continues unrelentingly for several minutes, until a sudden arrival at a slower, more ominous middle section, during which the performer plays more lyrical single-line passages. The marimba part gradually picks up steam, supported by increasingly aggressive electronic bass. Finally, there is a brief return to the soothing sounds of the introduction, while the marimbist restates the opening material, carrying the listener to the end.
    
    Emil Kuyumcuyam masterfully combines different influences to create a piece that is soothing, exciting, intense, and stunningly beautiful. I would not be surprised to see “Azure” become a staple of the marimba repertoire.
    
    —Marco Schirripa

• Credits +

  • Front Cover graphics and layout: Nicola Lee
    Mix and mastering: Tunç Çakır
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    With support from Koda’s Cultural Funds
    
    
    

Related publications

Individual Lemming

Unreal Motorway

Surreal Moods

Tricolon C

Shapes

Elyl & Tap