Say Fazıl Say

Fazıl Say (Turkish: [faːˈzɯl saj]; born January 14, 1970) is a Turkish pianist and composer who was born in Ankara, described recently as "not merely a pianist of genius; but undoubtedly he will be one of the great artists of the twenty-first century".

Life and career

Fazıl Say was born in 1970. He was a child prodigy, who was able to do basic arithmetic with 4-digit numbers at the age of two. His father, having found out that he was playing the melody of "Daha Dün Annemizin" (Turkish version of Ah! vous dirai-je, maman) on a makeshift flute with no prior training, enlisted the help of Ali Kemal Kaya, an oboe artist and a family friend. At the age of three, Say started his piano lessons under the tutelage of pianist Mithat Fenmen.

Say wrote his first piece – a piano sonata – as early as 1984, at the age of fourteen, when he was a student at the Conservatory of his home town Ankara. It was followed, in this early phase of his development, by several chamber works without an opus number, including Schwarze Hymnen for violin and piano and a guitar concerto. He subsequently designated as his opus 1 one of the works that he had played in the concert that won him the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York: the Four Dances of Nasreddin Hodja. This work already displays in essence the significant features of his personal style: a rhapsodic, fantasia-like basic structure; a variable rhythm, often dance-like, though formed through syncopation; a continuous, vital driving pulse; and a wealth of melodic ideas that may often be traced back to themes from the folk music of Turkey and its neighbours. In these respects, Fazıl Say stands to some extent in the tradition of composers like Béla Bartók, George Enescu, and György Ligeti, who also drew on the rich musical folklore of their countries. He attracted international attention with the piano piece Black Earth (1997), in which he employs techniques familiar to us from John Cage and his works for prepared piano.

After this, Say increasingly turned to the large orchestral forms. Taking his inspiration from the poetry (and the biographies) of the writers Nâzım Hikmet and Metin Altıok, he composed works for soloists, chorus and orchestra which, especially in the case of the oratorio Nâzim, clearly take up the tradition of composers such as Carl Orff. In addition to the modern European instrumentarium, Say also makes frequent and deliberate use in these compositions of instruments from his native Turkey, including kudüm and darbuka drums and the ney reed flute. This gives the music a colouring that sets it apart from many comparable creations in this genre. In the year 2007 he aroused international interest with his Violin Concerto 1001 Nights in the Harem, which is based on the celebrated tales of the same name, but deals specifically with the fate of seven women from a harem. Since its world premiere by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the piece has already received further performances in many international concert halls.

Fazıl Say scored a further great success with his first symphony, the Istanbul Symphony, premiered in 2010 at the conclusion of his five-year residency at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. Jointly commissioned by the WDR and the Konzerthaus Dortmund in the framework of Ruhr. 2010, the work constitutes a vibrant and poetic tribute to the metropolis on the Bosporus and its millions of inhabitants. The same year saw the composition, among other pieces, of his Divorce String Quartet (based on atonal principles), and commissioned works like the Piano Concerto Nirvana Burning for the Salzburg Festival and a Trumpet Concerto for the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, premiered by Gábor Boldoczki.

For Sabine Meyer Say has also written a Clarinet Concerto that refers to the life and work of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam in response to a commission from the 2011 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and a Sonata for clarinet and piano (op. 42) for the Festival Kissinger Sommer in 2012. Fazıl Say’s works are issued worldwide by the renowned music publishers Schott Music of Mainz.

Honors and awards

• Winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions (1994)
• Paul A. Fish Foundation Awards (1995)
• Le Monde Awards (2000)
• Echo Klassik (2001)
• German Music Critics’ Best Recording of the Year Award (2001)
• Ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)
• "Echo" German Record Award (2009)
• "ECHO Klassik 2013 Special Jury Award with Istanbul Symphony Album
• Prix International de la Laïcité 2015 (Comité Laïcité République, France)
• Beethoven Prize 2016 (Beethoven Academy)

Artist / Composer in residence

• Alte Oper Frankfurt, 2015/2016
• Laeiszhalle Hamburg, 2014/2015
• Bodenseefestival, 2014
• Wiener Konzerthaus, 2013/2014
• Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt, 2012/2013
• Konzerthaus Berlin, 2010/ 2011
• Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival 2011
• Merano Festival, 2010
• Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, 2010
• Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris 2010
• Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2010
• Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo 2008
• Konzerthaus Dortmund, 2005-2010
• Musikfest Bremen 2005
• Radio France 2003 & 2005