Cantata in Old Style, Op.19

On October 27 and 28, 2016, our choir sang Ahmet Adnan Saygun's Cantata in Old Style with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. The piece was conducted by Cem'i Can Deliorman and the soloists were Dilruba Akgün and Caner Akgün. 

Here's Hikmet Şimşek's article about the concert:

Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Cantata in Old Style

It is often the case that contemporary Turkish composers must advance to a level of achievement comparable to that of their Western counterparts, who have accumulated centuries of experience. This advancement can be achieved with significant leaps. Consequently, our composers occasionally draw upon the styles and techniques of ancient times.

Prior to creating the Yunus Emre Oratorio, Adnan Saygun recognized the need to compose a choral work in the old style as a proof of concept to gain proficiency in the technical nuances of such a significant undertaking. The Cantata, the inaugural Turkish work written in this style, is regarded as one of the most exemplary and sophisticated examples of its genre.

The work was completed in 1941 in connection with the anniversary of the founding of the People's Houses and was performed in the same year under the direction of the composer. The second performance was conducted by Hikmet Şimşek with the Conservatory Choir and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in 1960. It was subsequently repeated at the Erdek Festival and in Western Anatolian cities. In 1967, the performance with the Istanbul City Orchestra attracted significant attention.

The lyrics are taken from Necip Fazıl Kısakürek's* poem about the War of Independence, entitled "From Darkness to Light."

The work is for solo, chorus, and orchestra and comprises eight brief movements.

In the initial movement, the choir performs with a compelling and profound vocal quality:

Darkness permeates the gray lands
There is no light, no warmth, and no companionship.
Flood, hurricane, hell
Now even the flag is a bleeding wound.

The second part features a tenor solo delivered in recitative form, which includes the following lyrics:

No news from heaven, not even a sign
It's all over now, everyone is hopeless
The sun has already gone out, as have the stars and the moon.

The third movement features a soprano aria accompanied by two oboes.

I have no more dreams to see even I close my eyes.
I want to cry, I have no tears left in my eyes
There is no food without poison to feed my heart
I have no stone left in my path to cherish.

In the fourth movement, the choir cries out:
O God! O God, the top of the earth is worse than the bottom
Let your doors open, enough
We beseech Thee:
Send a light from your eternal heavens.

In the fifth part, the bass solo warns with great vehemence:

O one who is in the bottomless pit, who is calling out for the day!
Do not close your eyes, it is time, wake up
Ripple, O sea, tear, O curtain
O mine, rise from the anvil and shine in the hands
Your search in the void will catch up, will catch up, O hand
Blind! Open your eyes, dumb! Speak up
O day-dreaming in the bottomless pit, it's time to wake up.

In the sixth section, the tenor solo again heralds victory in a recitative:

Drop by drop, light descends on the souls
Everything that ends now begins
The blacksmith has come to forge the iron.

In the seventh section the choir erupts with shouts of victory:

VICTORY, VICTORY
Come, O flooding water of thirsty fountains
Come so that the old blind well becomes Zamzam
Sun on our head, spouse in our heart
Every idea is a light, every feeling is a fire.
Eyes opened, tongues untied
Lips dry, hearts barren
VICTORY, VICTORY!
Come, O flooding water of thirsty fountains
Come so that the old blind well can become Zamzam.

In the final section, the choir celebrates the victory with increasing fervor:

The day is dawning, like a sea of light
Let silver bowls reach the fountain of light
The day is dawning above us, from our hearts
Hail sun, love, bright horizons
Hail to life!

Hikmet Şimşek

(*) Cantata in the Old Style was composed on Behçet Kemal Çağlar's poem “From Darkness to Light”. Necip Fazıl Kısakürek is the author of the poem used in Saygun's Op.21, My Last Minutes.