Name: The Last Bright Rinsings (SATB & solo tenor) by fluter
Duration: 5 min 36 s
Description: Lyrics by George Mackay Brown. Performed by the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir conducted by John Frederick Hudson.

I so enjoyed this Gemma - it’s fabulous ♥️

Lovely, atmospheric piece. Glad you had such good  performers to do it justice.

Live Performance recording at Sound Festival 2020. Laura Bowler (Voice) Ruth Morley (Bass Flute)

Commissioned by Sound Festival
Text by Timothy Morton

Wicked Problems

Bumps Per Minute

BPM 124: Deep Thought Panda

Part of the audio from "Somewhere in the Distance (Lost in the Horizon)" premiering at Donaueschingen Festival 2021

Somewhere in the Distance - Crackling Fire Embers

Performed by Spectrum Ensemble as part of The University of Aberdeen's Composers' Day 2025

Programme Note:
Meaning, ‘active beach’ is a black volcanic sand beach located on Iceland’s most southernly town,
Vik. While I was there, I was in awe of nature, immersed in the feeling of sublime. The sea
was rough, the wind battered any who stood upon the black sand but amongst all this was quiet, and
a calmness that has left me wondering if I would be able to experience truer sense of calmness again.
The town of Vik is at the mercy of the power that nature wields, with the Katla volcano being so
close to Vik, this volcano is one of the largest in Iceland, and in the event of an eruption the town
would be levelled, with the singular church on hill being considered the safest point in the town. This
piece presents two landscapes to the audience, the first is the capturing of the sense of calm, that
mirrors my observations in that exact moment in time. The second landscape presented is a
reflection on the destrutive power that nature holds and the precarious role that humans must play
in order to preserve and life alongside nature’s power.

Virkurfjara

Lyrics by George Mackay Brown. Performed by the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir conducted by John Frederick Hudson.

The Last Bright Rinsings (SATB & solo tenor)

Performed by members of the London Sinfonietta at the 2011 St. Magnus International Festival

Floating Bridge (the lion dances)

The intent of this project was to create a symphonic poem for orchestra and electronics in three movements. The concept was to show the use of metal in revolutionising technology. It shows that metal has been used to make objects from daggers, clocks and swords to industrialised war machines, such as, guns, planes, motor vehicles (armoured cars, Landrovers, tanks etcetera) and bombs.

Programme Notes

First movement – Forge
Forging is one of the oldest known processes of
metalworking, moving from natural materials to a
man made element and the origins of forming metal
used in weaponry. A blacksmith performed traditional
forging with a hammer and anvil. Forging is one of the
primary techniques used to create and form a sword.
Heating the metallic material into a malleable state, it
is then beaten into shape by a hammer and anvil. It is
the typical process of forging swords, armour and
many other weapons. This creation lead to blood
shed, division and countless battles.

Amalgamation -  I. Forge

The intent of this project was to create a symphonic poem for orchestra and electronics in three movements. The concept was to show the use of metal in revolutionising technology. It shows that metal has been used to make objects from daggers, clocks and swords to industrialised war machines, such as, guns, planes, motor vehicles (armoured cars, Landrovers, tanks etcetera) and bombs.

Programme Notes

Second movement – Process

The development of factories, mechanical parts and
machinery, led to the invention of clocks and watches.
The implication is that using metal, hitherto only used
for war weapons, was now used for the advancement
of humanity and production of goods for non-violent
purposes. The effectiveness and efficiency of industrial
production and factory processing has been increased
and developed so that human workers are no longer
needed and are replaced by continuously working
machines.

Amalgamation - II. Process

The intent of this project was to create a symphonic poem for orchestra and electronics in three movements. The concept was to show the use of metal in revolutionising technology. It shows that metal has been used to make objects from daggers, clocks and swords to industrialised war machines, such as, guns, planes, motor vehicles (armoured cars, Landrovers, tanks etcetera) and bombs.

Programme Notes

Third Movement – Usage
The peak of the industrial revolution and
technological research in the 20th century, led to
major military wars and the rise of dictators and
tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin. Two world wars
were the consequence and powerful war machines
took countless human lives to fulfil the vision of
many tyrants and dictators. However, the reign of
pure terror ended with a nuclear strike, from the
atom bomb.

Amalgamation - III. Usage

Recording of Zubin Kanga performing Diptych on 16 August 2012 at the Independent Theatre, North Sydney. He is playing a Stuart piano. (http://www.stuartandsons.com/)

Diptych for solo piano (2012)

Written for string quartet and live electronics, December engages with the virtual, not as the “non-real,” but as an embodied space-in-the-making that emerges as a site of resistance, which accounts for the erased as well as the not-known within what preconditions the political-now as the “real”.

Live electronics activate feedback through over the course of the piece to either saturate or filter certain partials of the resulting spectra, which, together with the signals propagating through the bodies of the instruments as well as the fine-tuned speakers, color the properties of reflection and resonance of the performance space, and portrays simultaneous sonic-temporal images that emerge, articulate, and transform the physical space.

Facing each other, the audience is divided into two groups, and invited to participate in the collective auditory happenings that unfold, while the audience as well as the performers respond to the inner spaces emerging from within.

December is dedicated to the left-wing political prisoners who lost their lives on December 19, 2000 during the so-called "Operation Back to Life" (Hayata Dönüş Operasyonu, in Turkish). The Turkish government carried out this military-grade operation in order to end the prison resistance movement and the ongoing hunger strikes, during which the prisoners demanded that the shift towards a new cell system should stop. Known as the F-Type, this cell system is based on complete isolation of political prisoners. During this extremely brutal and widespread operation, more than 30 prisoners were killed, some of whom were burned alive. Following the operation, 1000 political prisoners were transferred to F-type cells. According to the official reports, more than 400 people, who have since been released, have been suffering from ongoing injuries, both mental and physical. Even today, the government denies responsibility for the casualties. Furthermore, some of the officers involved in the operation have been promoted to higher official ranks.

©Turgut Erçetin 2010-2024 (All rights reserved).


—
Selected Reviews:

"Turgut Erçetin. Komponierte Akustik," by Fabian Czolbe (Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) (in German):
https://www.berliner-kuenstlerprogramm.de/de/artist/turgut-ercetin-2/

"Yaylılar İçin Hayata Dönüş Operasyonu" (Radikal 2011, in Turkish)

"Turgut Erçetin – String Quartet No.1 December," by Ben Davis (in English):
http://sightlisten.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/turgut-erc%CC%A7etin-string-quartet-no-1-december/

"Sonar Quartet bij Gaudeamus: verklanken van ruimte," by Robert Muis (in Dutch):
http://www.gonzocircus.com/sonar-quartet-bij-gaudeamus-verklanken-van-ruimte/

"Sweet Thunder review: intriguing electro-acoustic music," by Joshua Kosman (in English):
http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Sweet-Thunder-review-intriguing-electro-acoustic-5430517.php

String Quartet No.1 "December"

Gemma McGregor is a composer from Orkney and a member of the Scottish Music Centre. Her compositions feature a strong narrative, often influenced by the landscape, history and culture of Orkney and contain references to traditional music and birdsong. Following postgraduate studies at the University of Aberdeen, Gemma has had two operas performed - the first commissioned by the Sound Festival in 2015, and the second by St Magnus Festival in 2017

The Last Bright Rinsings (SATB & solo tenor)

fluter

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