Evening Fazil Say

• Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916):
• 1 Granados: 12 Danzas españolas: No. 5, Andaluza 03:33
• Erik Satie (1866 - 1925):
• 2 Satie: 6 Gnossiennes: No. 1, Lent 03:17
• 3 Satie: Gnossienne No. 7 03:48
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918):
• 4 Debussy: Suite bergamasque, CD 82, L. 75: III. Clair de lune 05:15
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849):
• 5 Chopin: Nocturne No. 21 in C Minor, Op. Posth. 03:12
• 6 Chopin: Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posth. 03:21
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 7 Liszt: 12 Lieder von Schubert, S. 558: No. 9, Ständchen (After Schubert’s D. 889) 03:16
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897):
• 8 Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117: No. 1 in E-Flat Major 04:19
• Franz Liszt:
• 9 Liszt: Isoldens Liebestod, S. 447 (After Richard Wagner) 06:36
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937):
• 10 Ravel: Sonatine, M. 40: I. Modéré 04:14
• 11 Ravel: Sonatine, M. 40: II. Mouvement de menuet 03:13
• 12 Ravel: Sonatine, M. 40: III. Animé 03:52
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928):
• 13 Janáček: On an Overgrown Path, Book 1: No. 7, Good Night! 04:12
• Frédéric Chopin:
• 14 Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 4 in E Minor 01:38
• 15 Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 6 in B Minor 01:43
• 16 Chopin: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57 04:43
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856):
• 17 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 7, Träumerei 03:04
• Total Runtime 01:03:16

Info for Evening

In 2019, I began to think about making concept albums. Of all the ideas I developed, one of the most potent was that of collating works that we would like to listen to in the morning and evening. This was the sentiment behind the creation of the albums Morning and Evening.

‘Consequently, for both albums I sought out music that I found to be reminiscent of either morning or evening, choosing pieces that embodied the unique joy and melancholy of these times of day. In the process, I added some new works alongside those I have been performing live for many years.

‘Shortly before the pandemic, I recorded these pieces at the Mozarteum Hall in Salzburg, separating them into two albums. I think I have shaped a delightful array, in which each piece is expressed with my own interpretative style. For me, they are all beautiful pieces of music.

‘Working on the principle that simplicity was suited to morning music, I leaned heavily towards baroque and early classical pieces for the Morning album. For example, I created a morning classics series that consisted mainly of works by C.P.E. Bach, Daquin, Scarlatti, Mozart, Haydn, Chopin, Debussy and Tchaikovsky. Of course, there are also some more energetic pieces on the album, like my composition Winter Morning in Istanbul and Asturias by Albéniz.

‘The Evening album features classics from the Romantic and late Romantic period, including Chopin’s Nocturnes. After all, the word “nocturne” itself means evening music. Berceuse, also by Chopin, is something of a lullaby. I also chose some Impressionist works, like Clair de lune by Debussy. The works I chose to record for evening listening are Spanish Dance No.5 (Granados), “Dobrou noc!” (Janáček), Intermezzo No.1 (Brahms), “Isoldes Liebestod” (Wagner), Gnossiennes (Satie), “Ständchen” (Schubert–Liszt), Sonatine (Ravel) and “Träumerei” (Robert Schumann).

‘Playing these pieces, I sensed the unique rhythm of morning and evening hidden in their natural flow. I hope you will enjoy listening to them.’ (Fazıl Say)

Fazil Say, piano

Fazil Say
When the German composer Aribert Reimann discovered the 16-year-old Fazıl Say’s fast-developing artistry on a trip to the latter’s hometown of Ankara, Turkey, he exclaimed to the American pianist David Levine: “You absolutely must hear him – this boy plays like a devil.” Say had his first piano lessons from Mithat Fenmen, who had himself studied with Alfred Cortot in Paris. Perhaps sensing how talented his pupil was, Fenmen asked the boy to improvise every day on themes to do with his daily life before going on to complete his essential piano exercises and studies. This contact with free creative processes and forms is seen as the source of the immense improvisatory talent and the aesthetic outlook that have made Fazıl Say the pianist and composer he is today.

From 1987 onwards, Fazıl Say fine-tuned his skills as a classical pianist with David Levine, first at the Musikhochschule Robert Schumann in Düsseldorf and later in Berlin. This formed the aesthetic basis for his Mozart and Schubert interpretations, in particular, leading to victory at the Young Concert Artists International competition in New York in 1994. Since then he has played with all of the renowned American and European orchestras and numerous leading conductors, building up a multifaceted repertoire ranging from Bach, through the Viennese Classics (Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven) and the Romantics, right up to contemporary music, including his own piano compositions.

He has been commissioned to write music for, among others, the Salzburg Festival, the WDR, the Dortmund Konzerthaus and the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals. His work includes compositions for solo keyboard and chamber music, as well as solo concertos and large-scale orchestral works, such as the 2011 Clarinet Concerto for Sabine Meyer inspired by the life and work of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam.

Say is a passionate advocate of music as a path to social change, in his native Turkey and beyond. “I strongly believe that art and music will form a bridge between Western and Eastern cultures, blending and transforming these cultures,” he stated in a speech for the 38th Congress of the International Federation of Human Rights in Istanbul, 2013.

Booklet for Evening