Tract: A Composition Of Agitprop Music For Electromagnetic Tape

Created by Turkish musician and electronic music composer İlhan Mimaroğlu, Tract is dedicated to fellow countryman Nȃzim Hikmet, whom Mimaroğlu regarded “as the greatest poet of the revolutionary struggles.” Utilizing the voice of Turkish singer Tülay German (identified as Tuly Sand on this recording), Mimaroğlu creates an audio collage of political messages in the propaganda style (agitprop) of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. Although his text is based on “direct and paraphrased quotations” from Bakunin, Brecht, Mao, Marx, and others, it is not pro-Soviet but rather New Left, pro-freedom. The performance was composed and recorded over a two-year period (1972–1974) in Paris and New York. The liner notes contain Mimaroğlu’s introduction to the work and explanation of the composition process, performance context, and dedication to Hikmet.