Sarikiz - Concerto for violin and orchestra

Sarikiz - Concerto for violin and orchestra by Carl Jenkins Carl Jenkins created his Sarikiz Violin Concerto in 2008. The work re-creates the amazing poetic story about the love of a shaman and the daughter of his teacher. Sarikiz is the name of the heroine from a Kazakh legend, impossible to retell without mentioning the word “music”. The entire piece is permeated with the sonority of the ancient Kazakh instrument kobyz. The two lovers – Tlep and Sarikiz – actually stand for the Kazakh Orpheus and Eurydice. They are also separated by death, but unlike Eurydice, Sarikiz does not die from a snake bite, but is killed by the envy and malice directed at her. Enamoured from her childhood with the music of the sacred instrument, which participates in all shamanic rites, she decided after her father's death to take up his work, but this arouses fear and abhorrence with her people as a girl is not allowed to become a shaman. Only after many years, Tlep and Sarikiz met in the visions of the dying shaman, and the Eternal Beloved took Tlep through the river that separates the earthly from the heavenly life. The River represents music, which has the power to captivate owing to the sound of the kobyz. The piece was written on commission from famous Kazakh philanthropist and patron of arts Sapar Iskakov, a direct descendant of the legendary Tlep (his full name was Tlep Aspantayolu). Arriving to Kazakhstan especially for the purpose, Jenkins was fascinated by the sonority of the traditional national instrument, which resembles a violin (defined so by the composer while trying to master the Kazakh pronunciation). It is not surprising that the principal characters in this concerto rendition of the legend are the Violin and Violinist, and the concerto's first performer was the talented Kazakh violinist – Marat Bisengaliev, who had already received worldwide recognition. The premiere of the work took place in January 2009. Even with its very appearance, the Sarikiz Violin Concerto provoked furore in Europe, America and India. Karl Jenkins has utilized in a unique way African, Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Celtic and even Australian ethnic motives and thanks to his talent and skill mixes them in an organic way into the world’s realm of music. The concerto is cast in three movements: Allegro, Romance, and Dance