music short essay

11/6/16

1

Music in Turkey

Historical Informa2on •  Anatolia/ Anadolu or Asia Minor – Comes from Greek anatolé, “sunrise” or “east”

•  Origin of human civiliza2on – Çatalhöyük – Linguis2c potency

•  Several empires – strategic loca2on – HiItes – Assyrian – Byzan2ne – OKoman

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2

The Republic of Turkey

•  Founded October 29th, 1923 •  Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – “Father of the Turks”

•  Coups – 1960, 1971, 1980 – AKempt July 15th 2016

Geography/Demography

•  Size comparison: slightly larger than Texas •  Popula2on: roughly 80 million •  Language: Turkish (Türkçe) •  Religion: Muslim, primarily Sunni •  Capital: Ankara •  Provinces: 81

Focus

•  Call to Prayer (ezan) •  Sufi music •  Classical Music (Türk klasik müziği) •  Arabesk •  Contemporary popular music

11/6/16

3

Islam: Brief intro

God

Isaac Ishmael

Judaism

Chris2anity

Islam

Abraham

Sunni vs Shi’a

•  Divided over who was to lead the ummah upon death of Prophet Mohammed – Sunni – Abu Bakr – Shi’a – Ali

•  Infla2on of dispute by media

Call to Prayer (ezan)

•  Islamic call to worship, five 2mes a day •  Comes from Arabic adhna, “to listen” •  Muezzin – recites the call to prayer at mosque •  Recita2on, not singing – Like Qur’an, recita2on is not considered musical – Recita2on when Qur’an was given – “Music” banned from mosques – Highly melisma2c style (listen on next slide)

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4

Ezan text Allahu akbar (God is great) Ash-hadu an-la ilaha illallah Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan-Rasul Allah Hayya’ala al-salah Hayya’ala al-falah Allahu akbar La ilaha illallah *transla2on given verbally in class – vocal style of greater importance

Sufism - taşawwuf

•  Mys2cal sect of Islam •  Focus on personal rela2onship with Allah •  Purifica2on of the inner self •  Music and dance as devo2onal prac2ces – Sema

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5

Mevlevi Order of Sufism

•  Founded in Konya, Turkey (south-southeast) •  Rumi, Persian poet and Sufi – Early 13th century – Born in contemporary Afghanistan, moved to Konya

– Became Islamic jurist, issued fatwa, led madrassa

Oh Beloved, take me. Liberate my soul. Fill me with your love and release me from the two worlds. If I set my heart on anything but you let fire burn me from inside. Oh Beloved, take away what I want. Take away what I do. Take away what I need. Take away everything that takes me from you.

Sema/Zikr

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6

Ney

•  End-blown flute •  Used in both classical (klasik) and Sufi music •  Flared mouthpiece unique to Turkish ney •  Low pitch, highly controlled sound

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7

Classical (Klasik) Music

•  Comes from OKoman 2mes, oren court music •  Musicians oren trained as muezzin – Parallels between klasik müziğ and ezan

•  Most oren uses the ney and tanbur •  Will some2mes include kanun

Tanbur

•  Can be plucked or bowed •  Similar to many instruments throughout the Middle East/Central Asia

•  Has existed in its current form since 17th century

•  8 strings •  4-foot long neck •  Moveable frets

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8

Bülent Ersoy

•  Turkish classical music and asabesk singer •  Trans woman •  Famous prior to opera2on •  Ler Turkey for sex change opera2on in London, 1981

•  Exiled in Germany un2l later 80’s, new president

Aziz Istanbul

•  Yahya Kemal poem, “Beloved Istanbul” Sana dün bir tepeden bak?m aziz Istanbul Görmedim gezmediğim sevmediğim hiç bir yer Ömrüm oldukça gönül thaGma keyfince kurul Sade bir sem?mi sevmek bile bir ömre değer

•  Recorded many 2mes by many musicians •  Ersoy, controversial use of ezan –  Her voice as herself, chorus, muezzin