Tülbend

Premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble; Michalis Cholevas, ney; Jussi Jaatinen,

conductor.
The title of the piece etymologically relates with the word tulip. The

flower plays an important role in the piece as a metaphor at various

levels. Certain materials of the entire piece are taken from 18th century

Turkish woman composer Dilhayat Kalfa's masterpiece Evc'ârâ Saz Semaîsi, an

exquisite work from the period of Ottoman history which is known as the

Tulip Era. the pitch reservoir for each movement is divided into three

groups each of which takes different roles named after the anatomical parts

of a tulipa.
Listening through the six movements can be considered as observing

different tulips, or a particular representation of tulips (perhaps a

series of ebrû [Turkish art of paper marbling] or Bollongier's still life

paintings). Such an observation requires a different listening mode which

is focused in NOW in order to observe the aesthetics of the fleeting

moments. The form is reduced into a mere shape, far from being a

psychoacoustic tool to guide the listener's attention towards a formal

goal—there is no goal to be reached. Within this environment, the ney

taksims (improvisations) appear as “traditional abstractions” of the source

work, pairing with the “contemporary abstractions” carried by the rest of

the composition.