Yok mu, Var (isn’t There, There is) - 2018

Yok mu, Var is an ensemble piece I composed after the poem of the same title written by Edip Cansever (1928-1986), one of the leading figures of contemporary Turkish poetry. Through this long and fascinating poem Cansever wanders around the word “var” (which means “there is” in Turkish) but never defines “what” there is. One may define this being as “god”, another may define it as “hope”, and another as “communism”. All interpretations are possible since the poet leaves it “open” to the reader. That’s why I composed this ensemble piece first as a part of my doctoral thesis which focuses on the analysis of Berio’s Epiphanies (1961) in the contest of Umberto Eco’s Open Work. Yok mu, Var is a musical interpretation of an open poem; and with the Epiphanies of Berio, it creates conceptual intersections some of which are theatricality, multiplicity, order-disorder balance, circularity and stream of consciousness.

Composition: Yiğit Özatalay
Conductor: Cemi'i Can Deliorman
Vocalist: Deniz Güngören
Hezarfen Ensemble: Cem Önertürk (flute), Kıvanç Fındıklı (clarinet / bass clarinet), Amy Salsgiver (percussion), Müge Hendekli (piano), Neva Özgen (kemençe), Özcan Ulucan (violin), Ulrich Mertin (viola), Ozan Evrim Tunca (cello)
Venue: St. George's Bristol
Performance Date: 07.05.2022 - Bristol New Music 2022
Recording and Mix: BBC
Full Score: https://www.yigitozatalay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/yok-mu-var-score-last-version-for-BBC-Radio-3.pdf

Yok mu, Var (for male voice and eight instruments) - Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2010
Cello: Issei Watanabe

Two Pieces for Cello (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2011
1st Violin: Belemir Baran
2nd Violin: Yanki Karatas

March for Two Violins (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2010
Voice: Mercedes Casali
Piano: Yiğit Özatalay

Milano (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Performance Date: 2014
Voice: Mercedes Casali
Piano: Yiğit Özatalay

Nature Boy - arr. Mercedes Casali & Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2011
Oboe: Luca Avanzi
Accordion: Corrado Rojac

Porte (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2013
Ensemble NODUS
Cem Önertürk: Flute
Cem Güngör: Trombone
Nazlı Avcı: Violin
Gözde Yaşar: Violoncello
Orhun Orhon: Conductor

Intersecting Lives (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Composition Date: 2012
Tenor Sax and Prepared Alto Sax: Pieter Pellens

I'm not Alone, There is also Me (sample) - Yigit Ozatalay

Drums: Mustafa Kemal Emirel
Violin: Eloisa Manera
Piano and composition: Yiğit Özatalay


Haydarpaşa garında
1941 baharında
                saat on beş.

Merdivenlerin üstünde güneş
                                yorgunluk
                                         ve telaş.  

Bir adam 
      merdivenlerde duruyor
                         bir şeyler düşünerek.

Nâzım Hikmet böyle başlıyordu şiirine Memleketimden İnsan Manzaraları'nda. O günden tam 75 yıl sonra, Yürüyen Merdiven olarak, Haydarpaşa Garı'na adıyoruz bu müziği. Ve yineliyoruz: İstanbul'un en güzel simgelerinden ve temel miraslarından biri olan Haydarpaşa Garı bizlerindir, kamu malıdır ve gar olarak kalmalıdır. Elbette bu hassasiyetimiz, sadece Haydarpaşa Garı için değil, para ve siyasi hırslara kurban edilmek istenenlerin tamamı adına...

Yürüyen Merdiven - Haydarpaşa (feat. Eloisa Manera)

Composition Date: 2015
Performance: Hezarfen Ensemble (Violin: Özcan Ulucan, Cello: Ozan Tunca, Piano: Müge Hendekli)