Ahmed Adnan Saygun

After documenting the symphonies, cello and viola concertos and string quartets of Turkish composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun, this new disc presents the piano concertos; works which are considered his finest form.

Saygun’s piano compositions are performed more than any of this other works. His two piano concertos featured here, overwhelm the listener with their expansive palette of ideas and wealth of colour.

These extensive concertos are interpreted by Saygun’s pupil Gülsin Onay, regarded by many as an extraordinary pianist who performs with virtuosic brilliance and boundless energy. She herself states, “The Second Concerto, which is dedicated to me, is like a deep and strong elegy. Here Saygun has brought out the rich Anatolian folk motifs with extremely powerful orchestral means.”

“The most fizzing brouhaha came when…pianist Gülsin Onay, a Saygun specialist, rampaged through the concerto's carnival finale.” The Times on a live performance by Gülsin Onay

This disc is an interesting selection of music from Eastern Europe, featuring the first recording of Saygun’s Sonata Op. 20.

A colleague of Béla Bartók in the collection of Turkish folk-music, Adnan Saygun was among the most distinguished Turkish composers of the twentieth century, writing music that combined Western techniques with essential elements of his country's own musical traditions. His piano music includes works that explore characteristic ‘limping’ rhythm, Turkish dance-forms and, in Inci’s Book, children's pieces of charm and simplicity.