I started working on Deux Visions pour sextuor, composed for the eighth blackbird ensemble, in April 2008 and finished it in February 2009. The music connects two contrasting character pieces via a transitional section. I conceived each section as an inner vision. The first section is nocturnal in character, beginning with a mysterious cantabile melodic line played first by the cello and expanded by the clarinet and flute. The piano part is influenced by crystalline, fragile, Chopin-like timbre and a quiet lyricism inspired by the nocturnes of the Romantic period. The pure, lyrical structure generally transforms into a sound fabric involving mostly extended techniques and suspended single lines. A progressive emergence of chords and melodic lines lead to the second section (bar 97), which is inspired by jazz and Aksak rhythms (asymmetrical dance rhythms from Anatolia). It is the antithesis of the first section in terms of its texture and lively character. The idea of juxtaposing chords in rhythmic unison with polyphonically constructed sections is a phenomenon coming from jazz that has inspired me for a long while. The climax of the piece is a high bright G played by all the instruments in unison that anticipates the chordal sonorities and quick flurries of the last section of the coda. The music slowly descends from the climax. The cantabile melodic lines of the first piece appear through the chords, recalling the nostalgic vision of the nocturne.

Füsun Köksal