A Misty Day In Istanbul
Dennis Livingston
About this work:
The genesis of this deeply evocative ballad begins with preparing for a trip to Istanbul by reading Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul, a memoir of growing up in that ancient city redolent with the passing of empires and nostalgia for a glorious history long gone – what Pamuk calls in Turkish, “huzum.” While Istanbul is also a modern, cosmopolitan city, I drew on the mist-drenched sense of this aspect of the place as the background for a story of the end of an affair, itself now just another shard of history. Poetic license department: the lyrics state that the Hippodrome of Constantine is “gone without a trace” – not quite, but almost so.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:05:25
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Solo Voice with Keyboard
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation notes: This song is suitable for a performer in any vocal range. Piano-Vocal sheet music in any key is available by email request. See my website for more info on this and other cabaret/art songs.