Post Description

The legendary story of Leyla and Mecnun is revived once more, this time, with the unique interpretation of Turkey’s sole representative of electronic new age: Can Atilla.
“Leyla ile Mecnun” (Leyla and Mecnun) is the production of a long-lasting process of effort and endeavor. Launched in late January under the label of Sony Music, the album offers a mystical world of love, loneliness and agony.

“After the Empire series that I started in 2005 with the album ‘Cariyeler ve Geceler’ and completed last year with the album ‘1453-Fatih Aşkına,’ I began to seek a new musical language, new content and concept,” says Atilla in an online interview with Sunday’s Zaman. “‘Leyla ile Mecnun’ is the first album of this new trilogy.”

The new album offers many surprises to the audience regarding the different style and rhythms in the songs. “This album has a quite different atmosphere from my previous works considering the shift from glorious palaces to deserts, from an emperor to a deranged person, from domination to submission. I sought for a feeling of the solemnity of loneliness in this album.”

A love in the rifts

The story of Leyla and Mecnun is a legendary one, becoming the symbol of true love for generations. But Atilla has a unique way of telling the story. “This is the first time that the story is being told in all aspects in an album,” he says. “There were only songs on this story in Indian, Arabic, Persian and Azeri. For me, the Mathnawi of Fuzuli was the main source, and I read all the Leyla and Mecnun literature that was available. I symbolized the suffering and the transformation that Mecnun experienced, which is absolutely the most striking and moving part of the story, in the second piece of the album, ‘Aşk Çölünde Feryad’ by using Indian and Persian instruments.”

Atilla defines his album as a “composer album,” just as his previous albums. “It addresses a vast geography in terms of theme and content,” he says, noting that the album will be soon launched in Dubai and Bahrain as well. “After all, this legend is the most splendid love story of the East and it is known in many countries. In order to have an abstract and mystical atmosphere in the album, I used instruments which have deep implications, such as the dulcimer, table, sitar, setar and pan flute.”

One of the surprises of the album is the collaboration of Atilla with singer Zara. “I had met her five years ago,” explains Atilla. “She had performed the song of a play that I had written. At that time I had mentioned to her about an album on Leyla and Mecnun that I was planning to do in the future and I had told her that I would like her to be the singer on this album. She happily accepted it, and she kept her promise five years later when I realized this project. Actually, when I was composing the song, I had her voice in my mind all the time; I can say that her performance immortalized the song.”

Atilla’s collaboration with Zara suggests a different aspect of Atilla’s music, blended with Eastern elements and rhythms. “I have always been influenced by the music of different cultures,” says Atilla. “The deep simplicity of Persian and Indian music in particular has always attracted me. I was also very much influenced by the original Arab music while I was working on this album. There are some improvisations with the Iranian setar, and the Indian instruments tabla and sitar feature significantly. The theme of the album is imbued with references to mysticism and lyricism. When it was enriched with sufi rhythms, a unique depth emerged in the album.”

In the process of composition, Atilla had inevitably established personal and emotional connections with the characters of the story. “I can say that I was deeply affected by the story and love that Fuzuli tells us,” emphasizes Atilla. “I admired Mecnun at times, and sometimes Leyla, sometimes the messenger Zeyd and sometimes Nevfel, who started the war in the name of Leyla and Mecnun. As it is written on the cover of the album, the theme is about the concepts of love, God and death. These three concepts are challenging fields of art. Their love was true love: It was a love that took place in the rifts; it was a breathless love that brought them together.”

The entire preparation process took about two years. “There were stages like choosing the themes that I’m going to work on, the composition process, the arrangements, the orchestra’s recording and addition of live instruments,” explains Atilla. “When I am doing the research, I first choose the artistic themes that can be expressed by music. Then I make the original compositions according to the characters of the story. And as in all my other albums, I have one song that gives some clues to the audience about the entire album, even for those who have not listened to the rest of the album.”

Can Atilla - 01 - Kollarında Ölmek İstiyorum
Can Atilla - 01 - Leylâ ile Mecnun (Feat. Zara)
Can Atilla - 02 - Mecnun - Aşk Çölünde Feryad
Can Atilla - 03 - Leylâ - Aşkın Gücü
Can Atilla - 04 - Bir Ceylan ın Kalbi
Can Atilla - 05 - Dua
Can Atilla - 06 - Kervan
Can Atilla - 07 - İlk Aşk
Can Atilla - 08 - Zeyd - Haberci
Can Atilla - 09 - Nevfel - Çöl Aslanı
Can Atilla - 10 - Leylâ ile Mecnun Rapsodisi

 TER INFO
- De huidige LOSSLESS muziek die gepost wordt, is gecheckt tenzij anders vermeld!
- Bevalt mijn muziek niet, sla mijn spots over.
- Bevalt mijn muziek wel: voeg mij toe aan uw witte lijst of sla mijn naam “morris” op als zoekopdracht. U creëert hiermee een tag waarmee u in 1x al mijn spots te zien krijgt. 
- Verzoekjes zijn welkom. Plaats verzoekjes bij de meest recente spots. Ik kijk niet verder terug dan 2 dagen!!!!!! Gebruik eerst de zoekfunctie voordat u een verzoek plaats!
- Voor wie geen betaalserver heeft, nieuwe muziek gaat voor de al reeds geplaatste muziek. Heb dus geduld! 
- Zoeken kost tijd! Als uw verzoek niet binnen 2 weken op spotnet staat dan is er niets te vinden. Plaats dus niet steeds dezelfde verzoekjes!
“Dankbaarheid kan alleen voortkomen uit een opgewekt innerlijk leven en een zeker vermogen tot liefhebben.” ~Robert Saitschick~ 
 

Enkele mooie uitdrukkingen omtrent muziek:

“A painter paints pictures on canvas.  But musicians paint their pictures on silence”  
~Leopold Stokowski

“Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies”
 ~Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

“Words make you think a thought,  Music makes you feel a feeling.  A song makes you feel a thought”
~ E.Y. Harburg

“Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn”  
~Charlie Parker

Enjoy the feeling