Azure

Composer: Emil Kuyumcuyan

Instrument: Marimba with Tape

Level: Advanced

Published: 2022

• Description

Preface
As a child or adult, I have spent unforgettable times around the Mediterranean coasts or on the prince islands of Istanbul. During the covid time, I had enormous longing or in german "Sehnsucht" for the sea. So I started to hear the piece as a journey, along the coasts around the waves, people, and cities. It is like an imaginary journey and returning to the same haven to share the stories.

The marimba solo and tape play together and complete each other rather than the tape being in background accompaniment. I had a Turkish pop influence that I grew up with, and it evolved more to the IDM world (intelligent dance music) that I like to listen to and produce. So I always wanted to combine marimba with those sound worlds.

I had immense fun during the composing process; I hope you will also have it while playing!

Emil Kuyumcuyan

• Percussive Notes, February 2023
  
  “Azure” is an advanced, nine-minute work for solo marimba and tape suitable for a professional player or advanced university student. Commissioned for the 7th World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart, Germany (2022), it requires the performer to groove comfortably in constantly changing odd meters along with a click track. While the marimba part does not present an overwhelming technical challenge, it requires a substantial level of musical maturity. Along with the score, the player is granted access to the backing track with and without click track.
  
  The composer cites a longing, or Sehnsucht, for the sea as the primary influence for the piece. The music immediately puts the listener on an island coast, with the first 40 seconds of tape introducing a soothing aquatic timbre and distant bird calls. After a short ritardando, the marimbist enters into a duet with the tape, which now presents the sounds of fleeting waves and a thick, resonant bass line reminiscent of electronic dance music. The audio playback becomes increasingly intense and unapologetically electronic, while the marimbist continues unrelentingly for several minutes, until a sudden arrival at a slower, more ominous middle section, during which the performer plays more lyrical single-line passages. The marimba part gradually picks up steam, supported by increasingly aggressive electronic bass. Finally, there is a brief return to the soothing sounds of the introduction, while the marimbist restates the opening material, carrying the listener to the end.
  
  Emil Kuyumcuyam masterfully combines different influences to create a piece that is soothing, exciting, intense, and stunningly beautiful. I would not be surprised to see “Azure” become a staple of the marimba repertoire.
  
  —Marco Schirripa