ERDAL ERZINCAN Baglama Baglama-solo Istanbul TANER AKYOL TRIO Berlin TANER AKYOL TRIO special Guest: Erdal Erzincan baglama Taner Akyol baglama, vocal, composition Antonis Anissegos piano Nora Thiele percussion The Anatolian folk tradition with their songs, chants, fables, fairy tales, heroic epics and religious rites has been transmitted orally over thousands of years. Each generation has enriched it with the importance of relationships based on the changes and experiences occurring during an individual life. In this way, the overall impression is of a continuously developed and preserved tradition. Like any folklore based on the principle of absorbing over millennia from various forms of music, scales and rhythms, it has produced an overwhelmingly complex repertoire. It would be impossible to reflect, explain or understand Anatolian folk without their main instrument, the long-necked lute, the Baglama. The tradition is based on storytelling, supported by melody, in which the Baglama has been the largest source of inspiration. In recent years, performers used the rich expressive possibilities of this instrument at the heart of their efforts. Arif Sağ made a decisive contribution in the 80s  to establish the Baglama as a solo instrument on the concert stage when he organized a series of concerts around the country, becoming the first Baglama artist in Turkish history,. In the sensitive dialogue with the masters of earlier generations, he examined the entire existing repertoire, and established an interpretive style called the "Arif Sag-school" from which every contemporary Baglama player draws with pride. In recent years, Arif Sag increasingly has been working live with orchestras of western classical music. In this way, the Baglama is increasingly being recognised as an orchestral instrument. Erdal Erzincan is a leading representative of this school among the performers of the younger generation. His playing has been particularly established through the use and development of so-called "Şelpe" technology. A pick is used, and the finger can play different positions and attractive ways. In addition, he interprets in his recordings originally traditional works from the folk repertoire in a new, harmonious musical language. This can also be heard in the Bağlama " which he founded, whose originality has aroused great attention and new distribution opportunities. As a leading Bağlama artist Erzincan has also cooperated with European symphony orchestras and developed a new programme for the Baglama.. Taner Akyol, began his musical training on the Baglama. At the same time, he received violin and piano lessons, but focused on the Baglama with which he found his best musical expression. In developing his own style he is particularly influenced by the methods of Arif Sags. His contemporary compositions for Baglama and various chamber music formations have already aroused great interest in the music world. Taner Akyol introduced his instrument first across a wide spectrum of European composers and in the Conservatory of Music scene and was inspired to find new works. As an artist, he has set himself the objective of the expression of both rich musical traditions, which he learned to synthesise in an organic way. In this context, the seven new compositions on the CD show a new understanding of the instrument. The composer and virtuoso Baglama player does not believe in a music without personal, human-influenced expression. "Any text that set to music was inspired directly from my personal lif." This commitment probably best reflects Akyol’s self-understanding as an artist.