Sinan Savaskan

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Sinan Carter Savaskan (born 11 August 1954) is a Turkish-born British composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. He works and lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he is Composer in Residence for the Octandre Ensemble and an Executive Committee member of the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

. Savaskan's music has been programmed widely by organisations and ensembles such as the ICA (

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

) in London — in particular, its MusICA series run for many years by

Adrian Jack Adrian Frederick Joseph Jack (born 16 March 1943, in England) is a British Composer. Biography Adrian Jack was born on 16 March 1943, in Datchet, near Slough, Buckinghamshire, England. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood ( ...

—the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, Lontano, the

Balanescu Quartet Balanescu Quartet is an avant-garde string ensemble formed in 1987. Current members are Alexander Bălănescu (violin), James Shenton (violin), Helen Kamminga (viola) and Nick Holland (cello). Group history The Balanescu Quartet is a contemp ...

, the

Smith Quartet The Smith Quartet is a UK based string quartet founded in 1988 that specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music, and is actively performing worldwide and recording . They have premiered over 100 works by composers such as Ke ...

, the S.E.M. Ensemble of New York, and such conductors as

Martyn Brabbins Martyn Charles Brabbins (born 13 August 1959) is a British conductor. The fourth of five children in his family, he learned to play the euphonium, and then the trombone during his youth at Towcester Studio Brass Band. He later studied compositi ...

, Zsolt Nagy and

Petr Kotik Petr Kotik (surname originally Kotík) (born January 27, 1942, in Prague) is a composer, conductor and flutist living in New York City. He was educated in Europe (Prague Conservatory, graduated 1961; Vienna Music Academy, graduated 1966; AMU Prag ...

.

Music career

Savaşkan's music employs highly personal pitch-time structuring methods, derived from notions of spatial perspective and architecture. This pitch-time technique was first displayed in his chamber works ''Many Stares Through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss Blink'' (1979) and ''Antedonia'' (1980). The basis of the technique is the gradual circular rotation of pitch classes moving at different speeds simultaneously; this rotation can be effected chromatically, micro-chromatically, through glissandi, or any combination of these. Since each rotating pitch class may also be transposed through octave displacement, the resultant harmonic implications of three or more parts rotating in different directions at separate speeds can be quite complex and rich. "Nodal" points are reached when two or more parts reach either unison, an octave, or some other simple consonance such as a perfect fifth, and these lend his music a clear sense of cadence at structural points. In some pieces, such as the string quartet ''Speed/1969'' (1986) the natural overtones of a rotating pitch may also be incorporated into the work's harmony. In others, such as the saxophone quartet ''The Street'' (1982), the pitch construction may incorporate elements from pre-existent popular or traditional musics. Savaskan's first mature works were relatively strict in their applications of his pitch-time structuring methods. Since 1986, however, his music has exhibited greater diversity, whilst not abandoning the conscientious structuring of earlier works (to this day, he remains a committed Constructivist). The first piece to demonstrate this new direction was "Panic in Needle Park", for string quartet and electronics, which is rhythmically propulsive and melodically more direct than anything he had previously composed. Savaskan's Second Symphony, ''Age of Analysis'' (1997–98), premiered by the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, is another work of this type. This work proceeds from a relatively neutral starting point of gradual harmonic change to a tumultuous finale in which elements of traditional dance rhythms and other extraneous melodic-harmonic elements are integrated into a continuously evolving form. As Savaskan's harmonic method arrives at a concluding nodal point, the music ends with a cadence in the home pitch class, E. There have been other symphonies since then, and a chamber work "Unique strands, circular functions and Portofino", which premiered in London in 2001. Savaskan was a member of the

London Musicians Collective The London Musicians Collective (LMC) is a cultural charity based in London, England devoted to the support and promotion of contemporary, experimental and improvised music. From its foundation in 1975 until its reorganization in 2009, the LMC or ...

, and was the composer of the title track of the organisation's first recording in 1981. In May 2002,

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

"Between the Ears" programme featured Sinan Savaskan and his Symphony No. 3 ''La Rosa Enflorece and the English Cadence'' in a programme entitled "The Rise and Fall of The English Cadence" presented by

Jeremy Summerly Jeremy Summerly (born 28 February 1961) is a British conductor. He was educated at Lichfield Cathedral School, Winchester College, and New College, Oxford. While at Oxford he conducted the New College Chamber Orchestra and the Oxford Chamber Ch ...

and produced by

Antony Pitts Antony Pitts (born 1969 in Farnborough, Kent) is an international composer, conductor, and producer. His compositions have been published by Faber Music, with CDs of choral music on Hyperion Records and other recordings on Harmonia Mundi, Naxos, ...

. In October 2007, BBC Radio 3 celebrated its 40th year. Savaskan's Second Symphony, ''The Age of Analysis'', was featured as one of the ten most memorable pieces on Hear and Now's "40 Years of Radio 3: Two Programmes Marking 40 Years of Radio 3 and Its Relationship with New Classical Music". Until 2019, Savaskan was Head of Department for Academic Music at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, where he instituted a new music programme and taught many composers and instrumentalists in modern classical concert music who now follow successful careers, and a number who moved into the popular music sphere (including

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

,

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

and

Sub Focus Nicolaas Douwma (born 13 April 1982), better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English DJ, record producer, songwriter, musician and sound engineer from Guildford, Surrey. He has been releasing records since 2003. On 12 October 2009, ...

).

Honours

Savaskan won the 1988 Dio Fund Award of

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

for Composition with his quartet for saxophones, ''The Street,'' originally commissioned and premiered by

John Harle John Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, educator and record producer. He is an Ivor Novello Award winner and has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards. Biography Harle was born in Newcastl ...

with his Myrha Saxophone Quartet. Savaskan received a 1998

Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...

Grants to Artists Award. The BBC selected this work as one of its entries in the 1999 Unesco

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

. In December 2015, he won the prestigious British Composer Award, organised by the British Academy of Composers, Songwriters and Authors and BBC Radio 3. Module 60 of his epic cycle ''Many Stares Through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink'' was selected by the jury as the winner of the Large Chamber Music category. In August 2020, he received a major grant from the PRSF (Performing Right Society Foundation, UK to write a major work to be recorded and published by the Métier Recordings.

Theatrical work

Sinan Savaskan was the Music Director and Composer for Oedipus Rex,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

's triennial production performed entirely in classical Greek at Performances at Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 11–16 October 2004; featuring a production team including Director

Annie Castledine Ann "Annie" Castledine (26 February 1939 – 4 June 2016), was a British theatre director, teacher and dramaturg. Described in ''The Guardian'' as "one of the arts world's best-known secrets" who "shaped some of the most influential players in B ...

and

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

's Designer Stephen Brimson-Lewis. The event is held once every three years as the Cambridge Greek Play and is a tradition which started in 1882, often involving music commissioned by well-known composers of the day: R. Vaughan Williams,

Parry PARRY was an early example of a chatbot, implemented in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby. History PARRY was written in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby, then at Stanford University. While ELIZA was a tongue-in-cheek simulation of a Rogeria ...

,

Wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

among them. His other music for the theatre in recent years includes

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

' ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

'', '' The Birds'', and ''

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in ...

'';

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

' ''

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during ...

'';

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

' ''

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( grc, Φιλοκτήτης ''Philoktētēs''; English pronunciation: , stress (linguistics), stressed on the third syllable, ''-tet-''), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnes ...

'' and ''

Oedipus at Colonus ''Oedipus at Colonus'' (also ''Oedipus Coloneus''; grc, Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ, ''Oidipous epi Kolōnōi'') is the last of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles's d ...

'';

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

' ''

The Rope ''The Rope'' (french: La Corde) is a French thriller miniseries created by Dominique Rocher, and Éric Forestier. The story follows a group of scientists at a remote Norwegian ground station who find a mysterious rope nearby in the woods. Plo ...

'';

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's ''

The Miser ''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...

'';

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...

''; Claudel's ''Partage de Midi''; and

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

's ''

Phormio Phormio ( el, Φορμίων ''Phormion'', ''gen''.: Φορμίωνος), the son of Asopius, was an Athenian general and admiral before and during the Peloponnesian War. A talented naval commander, Phormio commanded at several famous Athenian v ...

'' and ''

Adelphoe ''Adelphoe'' (also ''Adelphoi'' and ''Adelphi''; from Greek ᾰ̓δελφοί, ''Brothers'') is a play by Roman playwright Terence, adapted partly from plays by Menander and Diphilus. It was first performed in 160 BC at the funeral games of Ae ...

''.

Film scores

In the early 2000s, he acted as Musical Director for a film-in-production on the life of the Renaissance composer Gesualdo, directed by

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

, produced by

Jeremy Thomas Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE (born 26 July 1949) is a British film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's ''The Last Emperor'', which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he rece ...

with a screenplay by the Oscar-winning writer

Mark Peploe Mark Peploe (born 3 March 1943) is an English screenwriter and film director. He was the brother of Clare Peploe, and the brother-in-law of director Bernardo Bertolucci. Works As screenwriter *''The Pied Piper'' (1972) *'' The Passenger'' (1975) ...

. In 2013, Savaskan composed the original score for the Portuguese-British feature film co-production ''

The Invisible Life ''The Invisible Life'' ( pt, link=no, A Vida Invisível) is a Portuguese feature-length drama film directed by Vítor Gonçalves and produced by the Portuguese production company Rosa Filmes. The film's world premiere was at the international c ...

'', directed by

Vítor Gonçalves Vítor Gonçalves is a Portuguese filmmaker, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is considered to be part of The School of Reis film family. Career Vítor Gonçalves was born in 1951 to Vasco Gonçalves. In 1979, he graduated ...

, which had its world premiere at the international competition of the 2013

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

.

Personal life

He is a member of the Executive Committee of the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

, and a composer member of the PRS/ MCPS, London. He holds a Doctorate from the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, UK.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savaskan, Sinan 1954 births Living people 21st-century classical composers English classical musicians Male classical composers 21st-century British male musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians