Kardes Türküler
Encyclopedia
Kardeş Türküler was conceived in 1993 as a series of concerts given by the music branch of the Folklore Club at Boğaziçi University
in Istanbul
, Turkey
.
The diverse ethnic groups in this ancient part of the world initially gave cause for the concerts to have artists perform interpretations of Anatolian
folksongs in Turkish
, Arabic
, Kurdish
, Assyrian
, Azerbaijani
, Georgian
and Armenian
.
Under the auspices of the Boğaziçi Performing Arts Ensemble (BGST), formed in 1995, the program used the concert stage to advance the ideals of common ancestry and celebration of diversity
as a foil to cultural polarization and ethnic tension.
Forthwith, the musical heritage of the Laz
, Georgian
, Circassian, Roma, Macedonian
and Alevi
cultures were all incorporated into the program.
The scholarly collection and research of the diverse folklore traditions of the region is an important part of BGST’s activities, but Kardeş Türküler has been intent on forging its own music tradition as well.
Bogaziçi University
Boğaziçi University is a public university located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey. It has five faculties and two schools offering undergraduate degrees, and six institutes offering graduate degrees...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
The diverse ethnic groups in this ancient part of the world initially gave cause for the concerts to have artists perform interpretations of Anatolian
Anatolian languages
The Anatolian languages comprise a group of extinct Indo-European languages that were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the Hittite language.-Origins:...
folksongs in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, Assyrian
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a Neo-Aramaic dialect, spoken by an estimated 220,000 people , formerly in the area between Lake Urmia, north-western Iran, and Siirt, south-eastern Turkey, but now more widely throughout the...
, Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
and Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
.
Under the auspices of the Boğaziçi Performing Arts Ensemble (BGST), formed in 1995, the program used the concert stage to advance the ideals of common ancestry and celebration of diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
as a foil to cultural polarization and ethnic tension.
Forthwith, the musical heritage of the Laz
Laz people
The Laz are an ethnic group native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia...
, Georgian
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, Circassian, Roma, Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
and Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
cultures were all incorporated into the program.
The scholarly collection and research of the diverse folklore traditions of the region is an important part of BGST’s activities, but Kardeş Türküler has been intent on forging its own music tradition as well.
Members
The following have had major contributions in Kardeş Türküler:- Aytekin Atas
- Burak Korucu
- Burcu Yankın
- Burcu Yıldız
- Diler Özer
- Evren Bay
- Emin Çiftçi
- Erol Mutlu
- Fehmiye Çelik
- Feryal Öney
- İlkem Balseçen
- Nevzat Çelebi
- Ozan E. Aksoy
- Özgür Akgül
- Soner Akalin
- Selda Öztürk
- Şenay Karaman
- Şirin Özgün
- Tolgahan Çoğulu
- Ülker Uncu
- Vedat Yıldırım
- Yücel Balım
Discography
- Hardasan (Songs of Azerbaijan), released in October 1996
- Feryal Öney sings with the accompaniment of AzerbaijaniAzerbaijani peopleThe Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
musicians.
- Kardeş Türküler, released in June 1997
- Debut album of the group with a repertoire of songs representing various musical traditions rooted in AnatoliaAnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and MesopotamiaMesopotamiaMesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
.
- DoğuDoğuDoğu is a common masculine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Doğu" means "East".-Surname:* Ersan Dogu, Turkish footballer* Sinem Doğu, Turkish female ice hockey player* Yaşar Doğu, Turkish sport wrestler...
(The East), released in July 1999
- Focus on traditions from the eastern part of the region.
- Roj û Heyv, released in January 2000
- Şivan Perwer - 'Roj û Heyv' was conceived as an album marking Şivan Perwer's twenty fifth year as an artist, and contains his traditional songs. Based on some basic musical forms of the Kurdish region, it contains the melodic, vocal and rhythmic characteristics of the "stran" of various areas. An attempt was made to embellish upon the characteristic aspects of Kurdish music, based sometimes on local vocal styles and the modal structure of the music, at times on the ways of expression and imagery in the spoken language, which differs from region to region, and at other times on the songs' literary background. In his vocal styles, Perwer too is grounded on this regional diversity, and at times uses theatrical interpretation.
- When one considers the possibilities provided by the arrangement of traditional songs, interpreting this music anew with an experimental approach involves a certain "risk," and also requires a different concept of it. The only possible way to come up with an answer to the "tension in the relationship between the authentic and experimental (and avant-garde)" is with a clearly defined musical concept, even if only a basic outline of one. This argument is definitely an issue for Roj û Heyv, and is the reason behind the use of experimental interpretations.
- VizonteleVizonteleVizontele is a 2001 Turkish comedy-drama film, written and directed by Yılmaz Erdoğan and co-directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak, based on the writer-director's childhood memories of the arrival of the first television to his village in the late 70's. The film, which went on nationwide release on , won...
(film soundtrack), released in January 2001
- A popular film directed by Yılmaz ErdoğanYilmaz ErdoganYılmaz Erdoğan is a Turkish filmmaker, actor and poet, who is most famous for his box-office record-breaking debut comedy film Vizontele and the television series Bir Demet Tiyatro ....
and Ömer Faruk Sorak.
- Hemâvâz, released in December 2002
- Emphasizing cultural commonalities amidst diversity.
- Vizontele TuubaVizontele TuubaVizontele Tuuba is a 2004 Turkish comedy-drama film, written and directed by Yılmaz Erdoğan, based on the writer-director's childhood memories of the last summer of his childhood in village in 1980...
(film soundtrack), released in January 2004
- The 'Vizontele' and 'Vizontele Tuuba' film music projects provided an opportunity for Kardeş Türküler to make use of the experiences gained through work with the music and cultures of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, in the area of film. Rather than 'turning the atmosphere of the film to sound', the function of the music would be to complete the film with its own narrative style. Thus, the music, instead of merely reinforcing/emphasizing the meaning of the scenes could, as an atmosphere in itself, forge a path toward the 'reestablishment' of the visuals. For this reason, we consider it a more correct approach to design the film-music relationship as that of two autonomous elements observing each other. The soundtracks for 'Vizontele' and 'Vizontele Tuuba' have been created with this perspective.
- BaharBaharBahar means Spring, in Persian, Kurdish, Urdu, and Turkish and may refer to:-People:* Bahar, Malik al-Shu'ara, Iranian statesmen* Bahar, Haj Sheikh Ahmad, Iranian statesman* Bahar Kızıl, German singer* Bahar Mert, Turkish volleyball player...
, released in May 2005
- Çocuk 'H'Aklı, released in April 2011