Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Tatar Song (Татар Жыры) was especially commissioned by the 16th 'Europe-Asia' International Festival of New Music (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation), and is dedicated to Tatar composer Rashid Kalimullin. At the essence of the work's conceptual framework is the Traditional Tatar Folk Song Baãçalarda kestane 'Багъчаларда кестане' (Chestnut in the Gardens), which in this unique manifestation is uncharacteristically subjected to an extensive compositional process of expansion that employs a set of algorithms, or automatons to develop the melodic and rhythmic counterpoint - transforming what is essentially a 15-bar single-line folk melody (or 30 bars of 2/4 meter) into 144 bars of notated music (equal to 288 bars of 2/4). In order to generate an even more elaborate indeterminate structure, the work generates an accompaniment based on aleatoric renderings of the descending melodic minor scale, embedded in a complex rhythmic superstructure (the consideration of 'all' 4 pulse rhythms with 2, 3 and onsets, including every single pairing) of pulse subdivisions that expand and contract in symmetrical fashion. According to Adelya Shagidullina in her Doctor of Musical Arts thesis entitled Tatar Folk Music and its Influence on the First National Ballet (2019): "Tatar folk music played a crucial role in the development of Tatarstan as an independent state. As Gayaz Iskhaki, a prominent activist of the Tatar national movement said, 'Perhaps, no one would argue that the most important foundation in the development of race as a civilized nation is its folk music.' However, the Tatar nation had to go through rounds of transformations before it could finally declare its very own musical tradition. Tatars first shared a culture with the Far East, and then became greatly influenced by Arabic-Muslim traditions. Most importantly, Tatars had to become a part of the deeply Orthodox Russian State. All this history precedes their turning into a cultural phenomenon with a unique character. The richness of native Tatar musical language combined with academic compositional practices resulted in the works of Tatar composers of the twentieth century." Tatar Song (Татар Жыры) attempts to capture some of the magic of Tatar culture via the creative redesign of a folk ingredient and its reinterpretation in a contemporary classical music context.

Work Details

Year: 2022

Instrumentation: Cello, guitar, piano.

Duration: 6 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Professional

Dedication note: Dedicated to Tatar composer Rashid Kalimullin (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation)

Commission note: Commissioned by the 16th ‘Europe-Asia’ International Festival of New Music (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation)

The composer notes the following submitted styles, genres, influences, etc in relation to this work:

Tatar composer Rashid Kalimullin (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation) Tatar Folk Music Traditional Tatar Folk Song Baãçalarda kestane ‘Багъчаларда кестане’ (Chestnut in the Gardens) Stefan Hollos and J. Richard Hollos Combinatoriality Algorithmic Composition Single- and Multi-State Probabilistic Automatons