The fruit of a unique collaboration between a brilliant musical polymath and one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles specializing primarily in medieval and Renaissance polyphony—the composer Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol and Blue Heron—Lessons from Nightingales presents the world premiere recordings of two new pieces inspired by the two principal Turkish traditions of Sufi mysticism. The Triumph (composed in 2024 for Blue Heron’s 25th birthday) sets a poem by the Bektaşi Sufi dervish Edip Harabi (1853-1917) in a dazzling sound world created by an ensemble of voices, bowed tanbur (long-necked lute), ney (end-blown flute), and an array of percussion, weaving together elements of Turkish songs, modes, and rhythmic cycles; Renaissance counterpoint; and the Japanese court music called Gagaku.

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Live at Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, May 30, 2019. Soundboard recording.