Composer and singer David Tukiçi is the focus of this week's Consonant Classical Challenge. Tukiçi was born in Albania, and now holds Italian citizenship, but his music transcends national boundaries. Perhaps his training as a singer informs his melodic choices. Tukiçi's melodies can be quite complex, but they still have a forward motion to them, with a tonal center the ultimate goal.
Tukiçi's harmonies also have a tonal basis, although they're often far from simple major/minor triads. The somewhat dense harmonies Tukiçi uses sometimes heighten the emotional weight of his material through the use of dissonance.
A significant portion of Tukiçi's catalog is orchestral. His second piano concerto presents a good overview of his orchestral writing. Note especially the carefully-crafted melody in the second movement, and his use of the solo cello to add dimension to the somewhat simple piano part in the movement.
David Tukiçi is a singer as well as a composer. The opening monologue from his work "La Vita é Sogno" demonstrates how effectively he writes for the human voice. Although it starts out with somewhat traditional orchestration, Tukiçi soon brings in unusual instrumental combinations to effectively illustrate the emotional content of the libretto.
His violin concerto also shows Tukiçi's melodic gift. The solo instrument is often giving long, singing lines to perform. But the violin is much more agile than the human voice, and Tukiçi writes idiomatically for the instrument. Tukiçi takes advantage of the wide leaps and agility available to the violin to create a work that's both expressive and exciting.
David Tukiçi writes in an expansive, post-post-romantic style that should fit in well with most orchestral programs. He's well-known in Europe, but virtually unknown here in the states. And while many of his works have been recorded, I was not able to find any of them readily available in this country. So who will be the first arts organization and/or record label to "discover" this contemporary composer?
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