Panopticon Specularities

for four simultaneous* chamber ensembles (2017)

*simultaneous works are compositions consisting of autonomous discourses, the components of which can be performed together and as stand-alone works. Stand-alone works, referred to as seeds, are listed below.

commissioned by Ensemblekollektiv Berlin
premiered by Ensemblekollektiv Berlin for the Mikromusik Festival on August 23, 2017

Ensemblekollektiv Berlin:

Ensemble Mosaik (Seed 1, for large ensemble)
Ensemble Apparat (Seed 2, for brass quintet)
Ensemble Adapter (Seed 3, for ensemble)
Sonar Quartett (Seed 4, for string quartet)

conducted by Bas Wiegers and Christoph Breidler

recorded by Deutschlandradio Kultur

score published by Edition Gravis

• About the work

  Panopticon Specularities consists of four simultaneous chamber ensembles, of which the unique formal entities are in constant contact with the sonic-temporal images that stem from each other. Referred to as “seeds,” these four micro-formations can be conceived as stand-alone works, activating the structural network of the whole. If played collectively, each seed is to address the spatial positionings that are indicated in the score to interact with the surrounding spatial properties of the concert hall.

  This work is an effort to address spatialized subjectivities and to develop a network of technical means designed to create sonic-temporal processings, with close attention given not only to idiomatic instrumental writing, timbral properties, and groupings, but also to the spatial characteristics of acoustic instruments and their relation to space.

  This research also addresses corporeality by studying the relationship between body and instrumental design, and how this relationship impacts the spatial characteristics of acoustic instruments, in order to explore how auditory experiences and corporeal responses are generated and shaped within acoustic environments. In doing so, this work aims to offer an aural experience, as well as a sonic poetry emerging from within, through which the space reveals auditory displays as simultaneous spatial happenings.
  
  To address the embodied acoustics of the given performance space, the above-mentioned aspects were formulated directly in response to the concert hall where the premiere took place in Berlin (August 23, 2017), for which I designed a 3D acoustic model of Heimathafen in Berlin. The performance possibilities, whether for its simultaneous or stand-alone formations, are not limited to the Heimathafen, as this work can be performed with alternative spatial positionings that can be provided.

  ©Turgut Erçetin 2010-2026 (All rights reserved).


• Seed I, as a stand-alone work

  for large ensemble
  
  flute (+piccolo)
  oboe (+english horn)
  Bb clarinet (+Eb clarinet, bass clarinet)
  soprano sax
  piano
  harp (optional)
  percussion
  violin
  viola
  cello

• Seed II, as a stand-alone work

  for brass quintet

• Seed III, as a stand-alone work

  for ensemble
  
  flute (+piccolo, bass flute)
  Bb clarinet (+bass clarinet)
  harp
  percussion

• Seed IV, as a stand-alone work

  for string quartet

• Recordings

  Audio (SoundCloud)

  This work is also featured on Turgut Erçetin's first portrait CD, Panopticon Specularities (RZ 1030, 2019).

• Selected reviews and interviews

  • Radio Portrait: “Musik der virtuellen Räume,” by Matthias Entreß (Deutschlandfunk Kultur)

  • Radio Portrait: “Musik der virtuellen Räume,” by Matthias Entreß, 2017 (YouTube)

  • "Osterkonfekt des International Style," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (February 2, 2013, In German).

• Related publications

  • Entreß, Matthias, "Komponierte Akustik: Der türkische Komponist Turgut Erçetin" (November 2019) MusikTexte No. 163.

  • Ercetin, Turgut, “Über Raum und Multidimensionalität” (November 2019) MusikTexte No. 163.

For preview purposes only. © 2010-2026 Turgut Erçetin. All rights reserved.