Popularized by singer and activist Kâzım Koyuncu (1971–2005), “Gelevera Deresi” is a well-known folk song from the Black Sea region of Turkey. Like many in Turkey’s northern coast, Koyuncu’s health deteriorated in the years following the Chernobyl disaster, leading to his premature death from cancer at age 33.
My arrangement — a collaboration with Turkish mezzo-soprano Feride Büyükdenktas — reimagines the tragic love story of Gelevera Deresi, but with the Chernobyl disaster as the beloved’s cause of death. Amidst melodic shrapnels that evoke the kemençe, a Turkish spiked fiddle, the piano intones deep, rumbling chords — a distant explosion. The singer mourns her beloved, who, in the grand scheme of things, is one of many beloveds poisoned by radiation in Chernobyl’s wake.