Ulvi Cemal Erkin: Symphony No. 2

Ulvi Cemal Erkin was one of the "Turkish Five", contemporaries who successfully established the foundations for Turkish music in the twentieth century by mediating between Western music and their own folk traditions. His most performed work is Köçekçe, a musical map of his native country, which incorporates interconnected dance tunes. In his symphonic and concerto compositions he created his own individual language, employing a Taksim section in the Violin Concerto, which gives an improvisatory impression, and expertly fusing modal and Western forms in the evocative Symphony No.2, the apex of his symphonic works.