Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 & Other Works Friedemann Eichhorn, Gropius Quartett, Konzerthausorchestra Berlin & Christoph Eschenbach

• Fazil Say (b. 1970): Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 "Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahları":
• 1 Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 "Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahları": I. Allegro ma non troppo 07:19
• 2 Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 "Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahları": II. Dance. Fast jazz swing 02:13
• 3 Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 "Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahları": III. Andantino tranquillo, quasi meditazione 06:25
• 4 Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 "Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahları": IV. Issız gökyüzü. Allegro ma non troppo 08:43
• Leopards, Op. 103:
• 5 Say: Leopards, Op. 103: I. Allegro assai energico, extremely rhythmical 08:04
• 6 Say: Leopards, Op. 103: II. — 04:41
• Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 92c "Ruşen Güneş Anısına":
• 7 Say: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 92c "Ruşen Güneş Anısına": I. Largo espressivo 05:27
• 8 Say: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 92c "Ruşen Güneş Anısına": II. Allegro assai, molto energico 05:05
• String Quartet, Op. 29 "Divorce":
• 9 Say: String Quartet, Op. 29 "Divorce": I. Allegro maestoso 05:26
• 10 Say: String Quartet, Op. 29 "Divorce": II. Andante 08:04
• 11 Say: String Quartet, Op. 29 "Divorce": III. Presto 03:51
• Total Runtime 01:05:18

Info for Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 & Other Works

Fazıl Say’s gifts as a ground-breaking pianist are allied to the breadth of his compositions. The Violin Concerto No. 2 was composed in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown during which Say was enchanted by the colours and textures of sunrises while walking on the beach, inspiring this atmospheric work. Leopards is a vivid piece for string sextet that utilises Say’s unique melodies and rhythms. The Sonata for Solo Violin is an expressive tribute to the noted Turkish violist, Ruşen Günes, while String Quartet ‘Divorce’ relates the experience of separation and the failure of a relationship with the language of music.

Friedemann Eichhorn, violin
Gropius Quartet
Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

Friedemann Eichhorn
Born in Münster (Germany) in 1971, Friedemann Eichhorn has maintained a close connection with Kronberg Academy since 2000. As a participant in the first Chamber Music Connects the World festival, he played alongside Yuri Bashmet, Eugene Istomin, Gidon Kremer and Boris Pergamenschikow.

Friedemann Eichhorn devotes a substantial portion of his work to the development of gifted young violinists. In 2002 he was appointed to the Liszt School of Music in Weimar as one of Germany's youngest violin professors and for many years has been the Director of the Department of String Instruments and Harp there. He is also the Artistic Director of the International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Weimar. In addition, Friedemann Eichhorn spent many years teaching at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg.

Friedemann Eichhorn was appointed as the Director of Kronberg Academy Study Programmes in 2012.

The versatile soloist performs in Germany and other countries with a number of renowned orchestras that include, for example, the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and has played under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin. His repertoire includes more than 40 violin concertos ranging from Bach to Berg. His first released recordings of the complete concertos of Pierre Rode (Naxos), which he rediscovered for the concert hall, were highly acclaimed. As a chamber musician he is a welcome guest at many festivals. Friedemann Eichhorn has a keen interest in exploring a wide variety of musical idioms. His discography includes tango CDs and recordings of rarely performed works for violin and piano by Franz Liszt (with R-D Arens on Hänssler classic).

Alongside his concert performances, Friedemann Eichhorn is also a committed musicologist. His doctoral thesis was on Gidon Kremer. He has written lexicon articles (e.g. for the new edition of the MGG) and edits scores for music publishers such as Schott Music. From 2002 to 2007 he was the Director of the Schlossfestspiele Zwingenberg.

Friedemann Eichhorn grew up in Speyer and began his violin studies with Valery Gradow at the Academy of Music in Mannheim at the age of 16, simultaneously preparing for and completing his end-of-school examinations (Abitur) by remote study. He then went on to study with Alberto Lysy at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, and with Margaret Pardee at the Juilliard School in New York. He subsequently studied musicology, law and codicology at the University of Mainz (graduating with a PhD). He has been the recipient of the 2005 George Enescu Medal awarded by the Romanian Cultural Institute since 2005. He plays a Nicola Gagliano violin dating from 1758.

Booklet for Say: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 87 & Other Works