Fantasy on Kurdish Themes

  This is a short piece (dur. 10') in Western classical notation based on tunes and themes sourced from Kurdish-speaking areas of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Between 2019-2022 I had the opportunity to spend extensive time in eastern Turkey. I was a volunteer music teacher at a refugee children near the Syrian border, then learned, played and recorded music with local musicians. During this time I got to know some local Kurdish musicians, as well as musicians from Iraq. I was immersed in local Kurdishmusic.

  This piece begins with an upbeat melody, sourced from a field recording made in Iraq by Ralph S. Solecki and published by the Smithsonian Ethnic Folkways Library in 1955. It is an uplifting melody in A Major. However, soon a held note in the violin begins to overtake the upbeat melody- a harsh ringing in the ears that drowns the happy tune. The melody turns minor, and is eventually pushed aside by the dirge-like tune of Malan Bar Kir. This is a melody I learned from my colleague Mücahit Poyraz, an accomplished Turkish/Kurdish musician. The tune laments destruction, loss of land, and loss of life. Several videos containing this tune on YouTube show images of the bombing and destruction of Kurdish lands. Following Malan Bar Kir is a section that is loosely based on the style of Iranian Kurdish musician Ardeshir Kamkar, Iraqi musician Ameen Mokdad, and others like them. It does not use any particular existing melody, but evokes the feelings and sounds I felt when improvising with my good friend Ameen Mokdad or listening to him improvise or play his compositions. It uses the hijaz scale from the Maqam System, a tuning system widely used in Syria, Iraq, and parts of Iran. It "modulates" from using a hijaz scale starting on A to one starting on D. This section morphs into a final section based on a celebratory tune called Le Dine (Country). This is a tune I learned while teaching violin to Iraqi Kurdish refugee teenagers in Turkey. It celebrates Kurdish identityand is well-known throughout the Kurdish region.