Music of Turkey
Encyclopedia
The music of Turkey includes diverse elements ranging from Central Asian folk music
and has many copies and references of Byzantine music
, Greek music, Ottoman music, Persian music, Balkan music, as well as more modern European and American popular music
influences. Turkey
is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is a crossroad of cultures from across Europe
, North Africa
, the Middle East
, the Caucasus
and South
and Central Asia
.
The roots of traditional music in Turkey spans across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks colonized Anatolia
and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization
.
With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres and musical instrumentation also expanded. Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek
, Armenian
, Music of Albania
, Polish
, Azeri and Jewish communities, among others. Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles.
Despite this however, western-style pop music lost popularity to arabesque in the late 70s and 80s, with even its greatest proponents Ajda Pekkan
and Sezen Aksu
falling in status. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy and society. With the support of Aksu, the resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan and Sertab Erener
. The late 1990s also saw an emergence of underground music producing alternative Turkish rock, electronica
, hip-hop
, rap
and dance music
in opposition to the mainstream corporate pop
and arabesque
genres, which many believe have become too commercial.
s, and other rules of composition. A number of notation systems were used for transcribing classical music, the most dominant being the Hamparsum
notation in use until the gradual introduction of western notation. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbul's Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti.
A specific sequence of classical Turkish musical forms become a fasıl, a suite an instrumental prelude (peṣrev), an instrumental postlude (saz semaisi), and in between, the main section of vocal compositions which begins with and is punctuated by instrumental improvisations taksim
. A full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains is the same makam
throughout, from the introductory taksim and usually ending in a dance tune or oyun havası. However shorter şarkı compositions, precursors to modern day songs, are a part of this tradition, many of them extremely old, dating back to the 14th century; many are newer, with late 19th century songwriter Haci Arif Bey
being especially popular.
Composers and Performers
Other famous proponents of this genre include Sufi Dede Efendi
, Prince Cantemir
, Baba Hamparsum
, Kemani Tatyos Efendi
, Sultan Selim III
and Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. The most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk
, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bülent Ersoy
, Zeki Müren
, Müzeyyen Senar
and Zekai Tunca.
long-necked plucked lute, ney
end-blown flute, kemençe bowed fiddle, oud
plucked short-necked unfretted lute, kanun plucked zither, violin, and in Mevlevi
music, kudüm
drum.
From the makams of the royal courts to the melodies of the royal harem
s, a type of dance music emerged that was different from the oyun havası of fasıl music. In the Ottoman Empire
, the harem was that part of a house set apart for the women of the family. It was a place in which non-family males were not allowed. Eunuchs guarded the sultan's harems, which were quite large, including several hundred women who were wives and concubines. There, female dancers and musicians entertained the women living in the harem. Belly dance was performed by women for women. This female dancer, known as a rakkase, hardly ever appeared in public.
This type of harem music was taken out of the sultan's private living quarters and to the public by male street entertainers and hired dancers of the Ottoman Empire, the male rakkas. These dancers performed publicly for wedding celebrations, feasts, festivals, and in the presence of the sultans.
Modern oriental dance in Turkey is derived from this tradition of the Ottoman rakkas. Some mistakenly believe that Turkish oriental dancing is known as Çiftetelli due to the fact that this style of music has been incorporated into oriental dancing by Greeks
, illustrated by the fact that the Greek belly dance is sometimes mistakenly called Tsifteteli
. However, Çiftetelli is now a form of folk music, with names of songs that describe their local origins, whereas rakkas, as the name suggests, is possibly of a more mideastern origin. Dancers are also known for their adept use of finger cymbals as instruments, also known as zils.
of Turkish society, though it also can be found in more respectable establishments in modern times.
Roma have also influenced the fasıl itself. Played in music halls, the dance music (oyun havası) required at the end of each fasıl has been incorporated with Ottoman rakkas or belly dancing motifs. The rhythmic ostinato accompanying the instrumental improvisation (ritimli taksim) for the bellydance parallels that of the classical gazel, a vocal improvisation in free rhythm with rhythmic accompaniment. Popular musical instruments in this kind of fasıl are the clarinet
, violin
, kanun, and darbuka. Clarinetist Mustafa Kandıralı
is a welknown fasil musician.
. European classical composers in the 18th century were fascinated by Turkish music, particularly the strong role given to the brass
and percussion instrument
s in Janissary
bands.
Joseph Haydn
wrote his Military Symphony to include Turkish instruments, as well as some of his operas. Turkish instruments were included in Ludwig van Beethoven
's Symphony Number 9
, and he composed a "Turkish March" for his Incidental Music to The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113
. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
wrote the "Ronda alla turca" in his Sonata in A major and also used Turkish themes in his operas, such as the Chorus of Janissaries from his Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(1782). This Turkish influence introduced the cymbal
s, bass drum
, and bell
s into the symphony orchestra, where they remain. Jazz
musician Dave Brubeck
wrote his "Blue Rondo á la Turk" as a tribute to Mozart and Turkish music.
While the European military bands of the 18th century introduced the percussion instruments of the Ottoman janissary bands, a similar development was emerging in the opposite direction, that is the Europeanisation of the Ottoman army band, in the 19th century. It was also during this period that the famous opera composer Gaetano Donizetti's brother, Giuseppe Donizetti
, was invited to become Master of Music to Sultan Mahmud II
in 1827.
After the decline of the Ottoman Empire
and the creation of a Turkish republic, the transfer of the former Imperial Orchestra or Mızıka-ı Hümayun from Istanbul to the new capital of the state Ankara
, and renaming it as the Orchestra of the Presidency of the Republic, Riyaset-i Cumhur Orkestrası, signalled a Westernization of Turkish music. The name would later be changed to the Presidential Symphony Orchestra
or Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası.
Further inroads came with the founding of a new school for the training of Western style music instructors in 1924, renaming the Istanbul Oriental Music School as the Istanbul Conservatory in 1926, and sending talented young musicians abroad for further music education. These students include well-known Turkish composers such as Cemal Reşit Rey
, Ulvi Cemal Erkin
, Ahmet Adnan Saygun
, Necil Kazım Akses and Hasan Ferit Alnar, who became known as the Turkish Five
. The founding of the Ankara State Conservatory with the aid of the German composer and music theorist Paul Hindemith
in 1936 showed that Turkey in terms of music wanted to be like the West.
However, on the order of the founder of the republic, Atatürk, following his philosophy to take from the West but to remain Turkish in essence, a wide-scale classification and archiving of samples of Turkish folk music from around Anatolia
was launched in 1924 and continued until 1953 to collect around 10,000 folk songs. Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
visited Ankara and the south-eastern Turkey in 1936 within the context of these works.
By 1976, Turkish classical music had undergone a renaissance and a state musical conservatory in Istanbul was founded to give classical musicians the same support as folk musicians. Modern day advocates of Western classical music in Turkey include Fazıl Say
, İdil Biret
, Suna Kan
and the Pekinel sisters
.
Folk music or Türkü generally deals with subjects surrounding daily life in less grandiose terms than the love and emotion usually contained in its traditional counterpart, Ottoman court music.
Most songs recount stories of real life events and Turkish folklore
, or have developed through song contests between troubadour poets. Corresponding to their origins, folk songs are usually played at weddings, funerals and special festivals.
Regional folk music generally accompanies folk dances, which vary significantly across regions. For example, at marriage ceremonies in the Aegean guests will dance the Zeybek, while in other Rumeli
regions the upbeat dance music Çiftetelli
is usually played, and in the southeastern regions of Turkey the Halay
is the customary form of local wedding music and dance. Greeks
from Thrace
and Cyprus
that have adopted çiftetelli music sometimes use it synonymously to mean oriental dance, which indicates a misunderstanding of its roots. Çiftetelli is a folk dance, differing from a solo performance dance of a hired entertainer.
The regional mood also affects the subject of the folk songs, e.g. folk songs from the Black Sea
are lively in general and express the customs of the region. Songs about betrayal have an air of defiance about them instead of sadness, whereas the further south travelled in Turkey the more the melodies resemble a lament
.
As this genre is viewed as a music of the people, musicians in socialist movements began to adapt folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements in the form of protest music
.
In the 70s and 80s, modern bards following the aşık tradition such as Aşik Veysel and Mahsuni Şerif moved away from spiritual invocations to socio-politically active lyrics.
Other contemporary progenitors took their lead such as Zülfü Livaneli
, known for his mid-80s innovation of combining poet Nazim Hikmet's
radical poems with folk music and rural melodies, and is well regarded by left-wing supporters in politics.
In more recent times, saz orchestras, accompanied with many other traditional instruments and a merger with arabesque melodies have kept modern folk songs popular in Turkey.
Folk instruments range from string groups as bağlama
, bow instruments such as the kemençe (a type of stave fiddle), and percussion and wind, including the zurna
, ney
and davul
. Regional variations place importance on different instruments, e.g. the darbuka in Rumeli
and the kemençe around the Eastern Black Sea
region.
The folklore of Turkey is extremely diverse. Nevertheless, Turkish folk music is dominantly marked by a single musical instrument called saz
or bağlama
, a type of long-necked lute
. Traditionally, saz is played solely by traveling musicians known as ozan or religious Alevi
troubadours called aşık.
Due to the cultural crossbreeding prevalent during the Ottoman Empire, the bağlama has influenced various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, e.g. the Greek baglama
s. In Turkish bağlamak means 'to tie' as a reference to the tied, movable frets of the instrument. Like many other plucked lutes, it can be played with a plectrum (i.e., pick), with a fingerpicking style, or strummed with the backs of fingernails. The zurna
and davul
duo is also popular in rural areas, and played at wedding
s and other local celebrations.
or baglama
. They are often taught by other senior mistrels, learning expert idioms and procedure and methods about the performance of the art. These lessons often take place at minstrel meetings and coffeehouse
s frequented by them. Those bard-poets who become experts or alaylı then take apprentices for themselves and continue the tradition.
A minstrel's creative output usually takes two major forms. One, in musical rhyming contests with other bards, where the quarrel ends with the defeat of the minstrel who cannot find an appropriate quatrain to the rhyme and two, story telling. These folk stories are extracted from real life, fokelore, dreams and legends. One of the most well-known followings are those bards that put the title aşık in front of their names.
was a leading performer of mosque music in recent times.
or baglama
, an iconic image of Turkish folk music. These songs, which hail from the central northeastern area, are about mystical revelations, invocations to Alevi saint
s and Muhammad
's son-in-law, Ali, whom they hold in high esteem. In Turkish aşık literally means 'in love'. Whoever follows this tradition has the Aşık assignation put before their names, because it is suggested that music becomes an essential facet of their being, for example as in Aşık Veysel.
Middle Anatolia is home to the bozlak
, a type of declamatory, partially improvised music by the bards. Neşet Ertaş
has so far been the most prominent contemporary voice of Middle Anatolian music, singing songs of a large spectrum, including works of premodern Turkoman
aşıks like Karacaoğlan
and Dadaloğlu
and the modern aşıks like his father, the late Muharrem Ertaş. Around the city of Sivas, aşık music has a more spiritual bent, afeaturing ritualized song contests, although modern bards have brought it into the political arena.
Order or whirling dervishes are a religious sufi sect unique to Turkey but well-known outside of its boundaries.
Dervish
es of the Mevlevi sect simply dance a sema by turning continuously to music that consists of long, complex compositions called ayin. These pieces are both preceded and followed by songs using lyrics by the founder and poet Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi. With the musical instrument known as the ney
at the forefront of this music, internationally well-known musicians include Necdet Yasar, Niyazi Sayin, Kudsi Ergüner
and Ömer Faruk Tekbilek.
or Roumelia is used to indicate the part of Turkey which is in Europe, namely provinces of Edirne
, Kırklareli
, Tekirdağ
and the western part of Istanbul Province. Folk songs from this region share similarities with Balkan and Greek folk music, especially from the ethnic minorities and natives of Thrace
. Cypriot folk music also shares folk tunes with this region, e.g. the Çiftetelli dance. These type of folk songs also share close similarities with Ottoman court music, strengthening the suggestion by some that the distinction between court and folk music wasn't always so clear. However, it could arguably be that folk songs from Istanbul were closely influenced by its locality, which would include Ottoman rakkas and court music.
Cities like İzmir
share similar motifs, such as the Zeybek dance.
and areas have had a huge influence in the purest forms of Turkish folk music, most notably from the Azeris and Turkmen
.
Pontic Greeks
on the eastern shore of the Black Sea
or Karadeniz regions have their own distinct style of folk music, motifs from which were used with great success by Helena Paparizou
. The diaspora of Greek speaking Pontic people from that region introduced Pontic music to Greece after 1924 population exchange between Turkey and Greece. The region's dance style uses unique techniques like odd shoulder tremors and knee bends. Folk dances include the gerasari, trgona, kots, omal
, serra
, kotsari
and tik
.
, Kurdish music
, Zaza motifs
and Armenian music. These usually include epic laments.
theater and opera has had a profound effect on Turkish culture in the past century. Like the terminology of seamanship, the terminology of music and theater derived from Italian. In the argot of the improvisational theater of Istanbul the stage was called "sahano", backstage was referred to as "koyuntu", backdrops depicting countryside were "bosko
", the applause was "furi
" and the songs sung between the acts and plays were called "kanto".
The improvised pieces were stage adaptations of the Karagöz
(shadow puppet) and Ortaoyunu (traditional form of Turkish theatre performed in the open) traditions, aithough in much more simplifled form. The themes explored in these traditional theater arts as well as their stock characterizations and stereotypes were used as the framework tor the new extemporaneous performances of the tuluat (improvised) theater.
As with their Italian counterparts the Turkish troupes employed songs and music before the show and between the acts to pique people's interest and draw in customers.
Kanto: songs sung between the acts as solos or duets, based on traditional eastern makam (modes) but performed on western instruments.
Kanto: "first the introduction, then the lyrics, shake your shoulders to a violin, solo, cock your head and shimmy in oriental dance style, leap around like a partridge, then slowly disappear behind the curtain."
Kanto: the irreplaceable unifying feature of ali Turkish tuluat theater.
We can divide kanto into two periods. The division, particulariy in terms of musical structure, is very clear between the early kanto and the kanto of the Post-Republic perlod. It is further possible to identify two styles within the early period. Galata and Direklerarası (both neighbourhoods of Old Istanbul).
Kanto first took root in the musical the aters of Galata, a part of town frequented by sailors, rowdies and roustabouts. Ahmet Rasim Bey paints a vivid picture of the Galata theaters in his novel Fuhs-i Akit (An Old Whore).
"Everyone thought Peruz was the most flirtatious, most skillful and the most provocative. The seats closest to the stage were always crammed full... They said of Peruz, 'she is a trollop who has ensnared the heart of many a young man and has made herself the enemy of many. 'Her songs would hardly be finished when chairs, flowers, bouquets and beribboned letters. Come flying from the boxseats. It seemed the building would be shaken to the ground."
Direklerarası was a littie off the beaten track and in comparison to Galata was a more refined center of entertainment. Direklerarası was said to be quite lively at night during the month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish) and certainly once its attractions was its family atmosphere. It was here that the troupes of Kel Hasan and Abdi Efendi and later that of Neshid enjoyed a great popularity. It was under the influence of these masters that kanto experienced its golden years.
The troupes orchestra would be made up of such instruments as the trumpet
, trombone
, violin
, trap drum
and cymbal
s. The orchestra would start to play popular songs of the day and marches in front of the theatre about an hour before the show to drum up interest. This intermission or Antrak music ended up with the well-known Izmir March, a sign that the show time was approaching. The play began as the musicians went in and took their places at the side of the stage.
The kanto singers of the period were also composers. Set to extraordinarily simple melodies which were the fashion of the day, the lyrics relied heavily of tensions between men and women as well as reflecting topical events. The compositions were in such fundamental makam
s as Rast, Hüzzam, Hicaz, Hüseyni and Nihavent. Kanto songs are remembered both by the names of their interpreters and by their creators, artists such as Peruz, Shamran, Kamelya, Eleni. Küçük and Büyük Amelya, Mari Ferha and Virjin. That kanto brought an erotic element to the stage performance was an important aspect and one that should not be overlooked or separated out.
Art and cultural life gained new dimensions with the changes brought about by the 1923 formation of the Turkish Republic. It was a period of rapid transformation and its effects were widespread. Turkish women had finally won the freedom to appear on the stage, breaking the monopoly previously held by Rûm
(Istanbul Greek) and Armenian women who performed in musical and non-musical theatre. Institutions like Darulbedayi (Istanbul City Theatre) and Darulelhan (Istanbul Conservatory of Music) had long been turning out trained artists.
Western lifestyles and Western-style art put pressure on the traditional Turkish formats and these were swept off to the side. The operetta, the tango, then later the Charleston
and the foxtrot overshadowed kanto. Kanto's popoularity began to fade, the city's centers of entertainment shifted, and the theaters of Galata and Direklerarası were closed down. Turkish female artists were unreceptive to kanto's inherent ribairy and chose to keep their distance from it.
Around 1935, there was a revival of interest in the kanto form. Aithough rather far from its fundamental principles, a new type of kanto was once again popular.
It is important to point out that kanto had now moved from the stage to the recording studio. While the subjects dealt with in the lyrics were stili the same old quarreis between men and women, mixed in with satirical takes on fashion and current events, the songs were being written with the 78 rpm phonograph
in mind. So much so that every record label hired their own kanto composers—and rather famous ones at that. With Columbia at the fore, record labels commissioned kanto from Kaptanzade Ali Rıza Bey, Refik Fersan, Dramalı Hasan, Sadettin Kaynak
, Cümbüş Mehmet and Mildan Niyazi Bey. The makams were the same but the instrumentation had changed. Kanto were now accompanied by cümbüş (a fretlees banjo like instrument) the ud (a fretless) lute, and calpara (castenets). Foxtrot, Charleston
and rumba
rhythms dominated. The tunes were being written and sung more tor listening than tor dancing. Female soloists include Makbule Enver, Mahmure, and Neriman; Beşiktaşlı Kemal Senman was the most sought after male singer for duets.
Among the topics explored by the new kantocu (singer or composer of kanto) perhaps the most frequent subjert of satire was the new role of women brought about by the formation of the Republic. Songs like Sarhoş Kızlar (Drunken Girls) or Şoför Kadınlar (Women Drivers) were sung seemingly in revenge tor ali the suffering they had endured at the hands of men in the past. Other topical songs include Daktilo (The Typewriter) which brought to mind the newly formed Secretaires 7 Society. Songs such as Bereli Kız (The Girl with the Beret) and Kadın Asker Olursa (Women Were Soldiers) were full of mockery and ridicule.
The early period kanto were largely nourished by Istanbul culture. It was much the same in the Post-Republican period. The city's large and diverse population provided both the characters and the events that were the mainstay of kanto. Kanto was heavily influenced by musical theatre. Roman (gypsy) music and culture, which was itself the subject of satire, left its mark on kanto form. Another major influence was Rum music. The importance of the Istanbul Rum, who were so fond of entertainment and of singing and playing, must not be underestimated. It is a natural and inevitable resuit of cultural exchange. As it was, almost all the kanto singers were either Rum or Armenian, artist like Pepron, Karakas, Haim
, Samran and Peruz
who performed during the period following 1903.
Eventually kanto became more of a definition, a generalized genre than a musical term. Any tune that was outside of the day's musical conventions, anything light that appealed to current trends and tastes, was labeled kanto. Any music played with different instruments that was free rhythmic or somehow novel was labeled kanto; it was the product of the middie-class, urban culture of Istanbul.
Kanto has been viewed as a forerunner of today's pop culture.
Turkish pop music had its humble beginnings in the late 1950s with Turkish cover versions of a wide range of imported popular styles, including rock and roll
, tango
, and jazz
. As more styles emerged, they were also adopted, such as hip hop
, heavy metal
and reggae
.
The self named "superstar" of the "arrangement" (aranjman) era of the 70s was Ajda Pekkan
who also debuted, along with Enrico Macias
, at Olympia
, Paris
, while MFÖ
(Mazhar, Fuat, Özkan) was the celebrated group of the pop scene with an outstanding dexterity in their use of Turkish prosody and their success of amalgamating Western and Turkish cultural ingredients and perspectives. Also one of the most renowned Turkish pop stars of the last decades is probably Sezen Aksu
. She contributed considerably to the unique Turkish pop sound of this period, allowing it gain ground from its humble beginnings in the early 50s and 60s to the popular genre it is today. She was also one of the strongest advocates for Turkey to enter the Eurovision Song Contest
. Her one-time vocalist and later protegé Sertab Erener
won the contest in 2003.
The biggest male pop stars in Turkey are arguably Tarkan, Mustafa Sandal
and Kenan Doğulu. Tarkan achieved chart success in Europe
and Latin America
with his single "Şımarık
", also composed by Sezen Aksu, which has been covered by numerous artists. Mustafa Sandal has also enjoyed chart success in Europe with his 2005 single "İsyankar
", which peaked at number 4 and went gold.
or oriental hip hop
is a creation of the Turkish migrant worker
community in Germany, which some suggest was a suitable outlet for a young generation disillusioned with Germany's treatment of its migrant class. In 1995, the Turkish-German community produced a major hip hop
crew named Cartel which caused controversy in Turkey and Germany
for its revolutionary lyrics. Hip hop now enjoys wide popularity among the younger generation in Turkey. Ceza
(formerly "Nefret") and Sagopa Kajmer
are popular figures of contemporary rap music in Turkey. Another popular Turkish hip-hop group is called "Turks with Attitude" who have a popular track called "My Melody". This track samples from the American rapper Rakim's "Check Out my Melody", using a traditional form of Turkish music called arabesque to blend the two styles and cultures together.
Its mainstream popularity rose so much in the 1980s that it even threatened the existence of Turkish pop, with rising stars such as Muslum Gurses
and Ibrahim Tatlises
. The genre has underbeat forms that include Ottoman forms of belly-dancing music
known as fantazi from singers like Gülben Ergen
and with performers like Orhan Gencebay
who added Anglo-American rock and roll
to arabesque music.
and United Kingdom
bands became well-known. Soon, a distinctively Turkish fusion of rock and folk emerged; this was called Anatolian rock, a term which nowadays may be generically ascribed to most of Turkish rock. Cem Karaca
and Barış Manço
are the best known performers and Moğollar
is the best known group of older classical Anatolian rock music.
ic anasheed are also very popular among some of the Turkish people. The most popular artist in Turkey is the British Azeri, Sami Yusuf
, a concert in Istanbul
drew an audience of over 200,000, his biggest concert so far around the world. He is one of the most notable singers of anasheed, and can speak in many different languages, which includes Turkish
. To date he has performed at sell out concerts in over 30 countries across the world from Istanbul to Casablanca, United States to Germany. Some albums selling more than a million copies in comparison to western music. In Jan 2009 Sami travelled to Turkey where he was invited by Emine Erdoğan, wife of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
, to attend a rally in support of peace in Gaza
. Another popular Turkish singer is Feridun Özdemir, who mainly sings of God and true faith. His records are most successful in the anasheed genre.
outside Turkey)and Almora. Individual musicians in these genres include Ogün Sanlısoy
and Hayko Cepkin
.
appeared as an urban songwriter/musician with a distinct musical quality, and became a role model for aspiring young musicians. He was the only Turkish musician for whom a tribute album was compiled that included several prominent performers from a wide gamut of different genres.
Other recent rock bands with a more Western sound who have enjoyed mainstream success include maNga, Duman
and Mor ve Ötesi
. Şebnem Ferah
, Özlem Tekin
and Teoman are examples of individual rock artists with substantial fan bases. Turkey also boasts numerous large-scale rock festival
s and events. Annual rock festivals in Turkey include Barışarock
, H2000 Music Festival
, Rock'n Coke
, and RockIstanbul
.
is one of Turkey's most successful DJs, mixing trance with historical and mystic Sufi songs. Another worldwide recognized name from the underground music scene of Turkey is Mert Yücel
. Yücel was responsible for the first house music
album to be released in Turkey. He also had worldwide acclaimed and respected releases on US and UK dance labels. He is one of the key names defining the underground house sound emerging from Istanbul.
s, a brand name often associated with a particular genre or record producer
. Record companies may also promote and market their artists, through advertising, public performances and concerts, and television appearances.
In recent years, the music industry has been embroiled in turmoil over the rise of the Internet downloading of copyright
ed music and general piracy; many musicians and MÜ-YAP have sought to punish fans who illegally download copyrighted music. On 13 June 2006 it was reported that MÜ-YAP and The Orchard, the world's leading distributor and marketer of independent music, had reached an agreement on digital global distribution, representing approximately 80% of the Turkish music market.
There is not a substantial singles market in Turkey. It is album orientated, although popular singers such as Yonca Evcimik
and Tarkan have released singles with success. Most music charts not related to album sales, measure popularity by music video feedback and radio airplay.
Turkish radio stations often broadcast popular music. Each music station has a format
, or a category of songs to be played; these are generally similar to but not the same as ordinary generic classification. With the introduction of commercial radio and television in the early 1990s ending the monopoly
of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
(TRT), a multitude of radio and TV stations were opened by newspaper
media moguls. These media chains sponsor award ceremonies such as the Kral TV awards for music, but most accredited music awards are based on sales given out by industry societies such as MÜ-YAP and the Magazine Journalists Society (MJS).
Though major record companies dominate the Turkish industry, an independent music industry (indie music) does exist. Indie music is mostly based around local record labels with limited, if any, retail distribution outside a small region. Artists sometimes record for an indie label and gain enough acclaim to be signed to a major label; others choose to remain at an indie label for their entire careers. Indie music may be in styles generally similar to mainstream music, but is often inaccessible, unusual or otherwise unappealing to many people. Indie musicians often release some or all of their songs over the Internet for fans and others to download and listen to.
Perhaps the most successful Turkish name associated with the indie music outside of Turkey is Ahmet Ertegün
of Atlantic Records
. His promotion of some of the most famous R&B
and soul artists in North America
and his contribution to the American music industry has earned a place in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, together with his brother Nesuhi
.
, and is a part of most or all school systems in the country. High schools generally offer classes in singing, mostly choral, and instrumentation in the form of a large school band
or social clubs and communities for Turkish classical or folk music, known as cemiyets. Music may also be a part of theatrical productions put on by a school's drama department. Many public and private schools have sponsored music clubs and groups, most commonly including the marching band
that performs Mehter marches at school festivals.
Higher education in the field of music in Turkey is mostly based around large universities
, connected to state music academies
and conservatories
. A conservatory is usually a department of a university, not a separate institution. While many students join conservatories at the usual university entrance age, some conservatories also include a 'Lise' (Lycee), in effect a specialist music school for children aged 14 to 18 years. Conservatories often have a musicology
department, and do research on many styles of music especially the Turkish traditional genres, while also keeping a database of sounds in their sound libraries.
. New year is a traditional time for the belly dancer and weddings are celebrated with upbeat tunes, while funerals are mourned with musical laments. Patriotic songs like the national anthem, "The Independence March
", are a major part of public holiday celebrations such as National Children's Day celebrations on 23 April and 30 August Victory Day celebrations, a holiday that marks Turkish independence
. Music also plays a role at many regional festivals that aren't celebrated nationwide, for example a music and dance parade and festival in Zonguldak
.
Istanbul, Ankara
and İzmir
are also home to numerous music festival
s which showcase styles ranging from the blues and jazz to indie rock and heavy metal. Some music festivals are strictly local in scope, including few or no performers with a national reputation, and are generally operated by local promoters. Recently large soft drink companies have operated their own music festivals, such as Rock'n Coke
and Fanta
parties, which draw huge crowds.
Music of Central Asia
Central Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures. Central Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale....
and has many copies and references of Byzantine music
Byzantine music
Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
, Greek music, Ottoman music, Persian music, Balkan music, as well as more modern European and American popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
influences. 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...
is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is a crossroad of cultures from across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and South
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
The roots of traditional music in Turkey spans across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks colonized Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization
Westernization
Westernization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...
.
With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres and musical instrumentation also expanded. Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek
Music of Greece
The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds...
, Armenian
Music of Armenia
Armenia is situated close to the Caucasus Mountains, and its music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyan's well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music, due to Armenia's status as the oldest Christian nation in the...
, Music of Albania
Music of Albania
Albanian music displays a variety of influences. Albanian folk music traditions differ by region, with major stylistic differences between the traditional music of the Ghegs in the north and Tosks in the south. Modern popular music has developed around the centers of Korça, Shkodër and Tirana....
, Polish
Music of Poland
Artists from Poland, including famous composers like Chopin or Lutosławski and traditional, regionalized folk musicians, create a lively and diverse music scene, which even recognizes its own music genres, such as poezja śpiewana.- Beginning :...
, Azeri and Jewish communities, among others. Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles.
Despite this however, western-style pop music lost popularity to arabesque in the late 70s and 80s, with even its greatest proponents Ajda Pekkan
Ajda Pekkan
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed...
and Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu is a Turkish pop music singer, song-writer and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ....
falling in status. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy and society. With the support of Aksu, the resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan and Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music...
. The late 1990s also saw an emergence of underground music producing alternative Turkish rock, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, hip-hop
Turkish hip hop
-History:Before Turkish hip hop took hold in Turkey, specifically Istanbul and Ankara, it originally grew out of Turkish ethnic enclaves in Germany. Owing its large population to the Turkish migrants that came to Germany in the 1960s as Gastarbeiter , 2/3 of all Turks in Germany are under the age...
, rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
in opposition to the mainstream corporate pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and arabesque
Arabesque music
Arabesque or Arabesk is a genre termed so by Turkish musicologists for Arabic-style music created in Turkey. The genre was particularly popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades...
genres, which many believe have become too commercial.
Classical music
Ottoman court music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makamMakam
Makam In Turkish classical music, a system of melody types called makam provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance...
s, and other rules of composition. A number of notation systems were used for transcribing classical music, the most dominant being the Hamparsum
Hamparsum Limonciyan
Hampartsoum Limondjian was an Ottoman Armenian composer of Armenian church music and Turkish classical music and musical theorist who developed the Hampartsoum notation system...
notation in use until the gradual introduction of western notation. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbul's Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti.
A specific sequence of classical Turkish musical forms become a fasıl, a suite an instrumental prelude (peṣrev), an instrumental postlude (saz semaisi), and in between, the main section of vocal compositions which begins with and is punctuated by instrumental improvisations taksim
Taqsim
Taqsim is the name of a melodic improvisation style that could be metric or non-metric, which usually precedes a composition in Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and other Middle Eastern music. The taqsim is usually performed by a solo instrument, yet sometimes the soloist can be backed by a percussionist...
. A full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains is the same makam
Makam
Makam In Turkish classical music, a system of melody types called makam provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance...
throughout, from the introductory taksim and usually ending in a dance tune or oyun havası. However shorter şarkı compositions, precursors to modern day songs, are a part of this tradition, many of them extremely old, dating back to the 14th century; many are newer, with late 19th century songwriter Haci Arif Bey
Haci Arif Bey
Haci Arif Bey was a Turkish composer from Istanbul, most known for his compositions in the şarkı form, the most common secular form in Turkish classical music. He was a very prolific composer, who on some days, composedmore than 6-7 songs....
being especially popular.
Composers and Performers
Other famous proponents of this genre include Sufi Dede Efendi
Dede Efendi
Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi was a composer of Turkish classical music. He was born on 9 January 1778, in Istanbul, Şehzadebaşı. He started studying music with Mehmed Emin Efendi, at the age of eight. He attended rituals at Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi, a place of Mevlevi gathering. He studied with...
, Prince Cantemir
Dimitrie Cantemir
Dimitrie Cantemir was twice Prince of Moldavia . He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer....
, Baba Hamparsum
Hamparsum Limonciyan
Hampartsoum Limondjian was an Ottoman Armenian composer of Armenian church music and Turkish classical music and musical theorist who developed the Hampartsoum notation system...
, Kemani Tatyos Efendi
Kemani Tatyos Ekserciyan
Tatyos Ekserciyan , or Tatyos Efendi, was a famous composer of classical Turkish music, and his works continue to be among the best-remembered and often played pieces of the genre....
, Sultan Selim III
Selim III
Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...
and Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. The most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk
Münir Nurettin Selçuk
Münir Nurettin Selçuk was a Turkish classical musician and tenor singer. He was one of the most revered names in Turkish music.-Biography:...
, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bülent Ersoy
Bülent Ersoy
Bülent Ersoy is a transgender Turkish celebrity and popular singer of Ottoman classical music. Over the years, Ersoy has become a symbol for the increased tolerance for LGBT figures in Turkish media....
, Zeki Müren
Zeki Müren
Zeki Müren was a prominent Turkish singer, composer and actor. He was famous for his compelling voice and precise articulation in his singing of both established Turkish classical music and contemporary songs.-Biography:Müren grew up in the provincial capital city of Bursa in western Turkey...
, Müzeyyen Senar
Müzeyyen Senar
Müzeyyen Senar is a Turkish classical music performer. Born in Gököz in the Keles district, Bursa, Ottoman Empire, she is known as the diva of the Turkish Republic.- Discography :- Links :...
and Zekai Tunca.
Musical instruments
Traditional instruments in Turkish classical music today include tanburTanbur
The term tanbūr can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur is applied to a variety of distinct and related...
long-necked plucked lute, ney
Ney
The ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...
end-blown flute, kemençe bowed fiddle, oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
plucked short-necked unfretted lute, kanun plucked zither, violin, and in Mevlevi
Mevlevi
The Mevlevi Order, or the Mevlevilik or Mevleviye are a Sufi order founded in Konya by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. They are also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form...
music, kudüm
Kudüm
Kudüm is one of the most fundamental rhythm instruments in classical Turkish music. The personplaying it is called kudümzen. It is among ney, rebap, and halile as one of thefour main instruments in Mevlevi music....
drum.
Ottoman harem music: belly dancing
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
s, a type of dance music emerged that was different from the oyun havası of fasıl music. In the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, the harem was that part of a house set apart for the women of the family. It was a place in which non-family males were not allowed. Eunuchs guarded the sultan's harems, which were quite large, including several hundred women who were wives and concubines. There, female dancers and musicians entertained the women living in the harem. Belly dance was performed by women for women. This female dancer, known as a rakkase, hardly ever appeared in public.
This type of harem music was taken out of the sultan's private living quarters and to the public by male street entertainers and hired dancers of the Ottoman Empire, the male rakkas. These dancers performed publicly for wedding celebrations, feasts, festivals, and in the presence of the sultans.
Modern oriental dance in Turkey is derived from this tradition of the Ottoman rakkas. Some mistakenly believe that Turkish oriental dancing is known as Çiftetelli due to the fact that this style of music has been incorporated into oriental dancing by Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, illustrated by the fact that the Greek belly dance is sometimes mistakenly called Tsifteteli
Tsifteteli
The Tsifteteli , is a rhythm and dance of Anatolia and the Balkans with a rhythmic pattern of 2/4. The dance is probably of Turkish origin and in the Turkish language it means "double stringed", taken from the violin playing style that is practiced in this kind of music...
. However, Çiftetelli is now a form of folk music, with names of songs that describe their local origins, whereas rakkas, as the name suggests, is possibly of a more mideastern origin. Dancers are also known for their adept use of finger cymbals as instruments, also known as zils.
Romani influences
Roma are known throughout Turkey for their musicianship. Their urban music brought echoes of classical Turkish music to the public via the meyhane or taverna. This type of fasıl music (a style, not to be confused with the fasıl form of classical Turkish music) with food and alcoholic beverages is often associated with the underclassUnderclass
The term underclass refers to a segment of the population that occupies the lowest possible position in a class hierarchy, below the core body of the working class. The general idea that a class system includes a population under the working class has a long tradition in the social sciences...
of Turkish society, though it also can be found in more respectable establishments in modern times.
Roma have also influenced the fasıl itself. Played in music halls, the dance music (oyun havası) required at the end of each fasıl has been incorporated with Ottoman rakkas or belly dancing motifs. The rhythmic ostinato accompanying the instrumental improvisation (ritimli taksim) for the bellydance parallels that of the classical gazel, a vocal improvisation in free rhythm with rhythmic accompaniment. Popular musical instruments in this kind of fasıl are the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, kanun, and darbuka. Clarinetist Mustafa Kandıralı
Mustafa Kandirali
Mustafa Kandıralı is a Turkish clarinetist of gypsy and Turkish folk music.- References :...
is a welknown fasil musician.
Military music
The Janissary bands or Mehter Takımı is considered to be the oldest type of military marching band in the world. Individual instrumentalists were mentioned in the Orhun inscriptions, which are believed to be the oldest written sources of Turkish history, dating from the 8th century. However, they were not definitively mentioned as bands until the 13th century. The rest of Europe borrowed the notion of military marching bands from Turkey from the 16th century onwards.Turkish influence on Western classical music
Musical relations between the Turks and the rest of Europe can be traced back many centuries, and the first type of musical Orientalism was the Turkish StyleTurkish music (style)
"Turkish music", in the sense described here, is not music of Turkey, but rather a musical style called Alla turca that was occasionally used by European composers of the 17th and 18th centuries...
. European classical composers in the 18th century were fascinated by Turkish music, particularly the strong role given to the brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s in Janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
bands.
Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
wrote his Military Symphony to include Turkish instruments, as well as some of his operas. Turkish instruments were included in Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Symphony Number 9
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, and he composed a "Turkish March" for his Incidental Music to The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113
The Ruins of Athens
The Ruins of Athens , Opus 113, is a set of incidental music written in 1811 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The music was written to accompany the play of the same name by August von Kotzebue, for the dedication of a new theatre at Pest....
. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
wrote the "Ronda alla turca" in his Sonata in A major and also used Turkish themes in his operas, such as the Chorus of Janissaries from his Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
(1782). This Turkish influence introduced the cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, and bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s into the symphony orchestra, where they remain. Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
wrote his "Blue Rondo á la Turk" as a tribute to Mozart and Turkish music.
Western influence on Turkish classical music
Giuseppe Donizetti
Giuseppe Donizetti was, from 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II .His younger brother Gaetano Donizetti was a famous Italian opera composer...
, was invited to become Master of Music to Sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II
Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...
in 1827.
After the decline of the Ottoman Empire
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
The Decline of the Ottoman Empire is the period that followed after the Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire in which the empire experienced several economic and political setbacks. Directly affecting the Empire at this time was Russian imperialism...
and the creation of a Turkish republic, the transfer of the former Imperial Orchestra or Mızıka-ı Hümayun from Istanbul to the new capital of the state Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, and renaming it as the Orchestra of the Presidency of the Republic, Riyaset-i Cumhur Orkestrası, signalled a Westernization of Turkish music. The name would later be changed to the Presidential Symphony Orchestra
Presidential Symphony Orchestra
Presidential Symphony Orchestra is the presidential symphony orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. It is headquartered in Ankara...
or Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası.
Further inroads came with the founding of a new school for the training of Western style music instructors in 1924, renaming the Istanbul Oriental Music School as the Istanbul Conservatory in 1926, and sending talented young musicians abroad for further music education. These students include well-known Turkish composers such as Cemal Reşit Rey
Cemal Resit Rey
Cemal Reşit Rey was a Turkish composer, pianist, script writer and conductor.He was born on October 25, 1904 in Jerusalem, and died on October 7, 1985 in Istanbul....
, Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904 - 1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic...
, Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Ahmed Adnan Saygun was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. Ahmed Adnan Saygun is acknowledged as one of the most important 20th century composers in Turkish music history....
, Necil Kazım Akses and Hasan Ferit Alnar, who became known as the Turkish Five
The Turkish Five
The Turkish Five is a term used to describe the five pioneers of western classical music in Turkey. They were all born in the first decade of the 20th century and they composed their most outstanding music in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, especially during the presidencies of Mustafa...
. The founding of the Ankara State Conservatory with the aid of the German composer and music theorist Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
in 1936 showed that Turkey in terms of music wanted to be like the West.
However, on the order of the founder of the republic, Atatürk, following his philosophy to take from the West but to remain Turkish in essence, a wide-scale classification and archiving of samples of Turkish folk music from around Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
was launched in 1924 and continued until 1953 to collect around 10,000 folk songs. Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
visited Ankara and the south-eastern Turkey in 1936 within the context of these works.
By 1976, Turkish classical music had undergone a renaissance and a state musical conservatory in Istanbul was founded to give classical musicians the same support as folk musicians. Modern day advocates of Western classical music in Turkey include Fazıl Say
Fazil Say
Fazıl Say , is a Turkish pianist and composer born in Ankara, Turkey.-Biography:Born in 1970 in Ankara, Turkey, Fazıl Say started playing the piano at the age of four. He continued his music training in Ankara State Conservatory as a student of Special Status for Highly Talented Children and...
, İdil Biret
Idil Biret
İdil Biret is a Turkish concert pianist, renowned for her interpretations of the Romantic repertoire.-Education:...
, Suna Kan
Suna Kan
Suna Kan, born on October 21, 1936 in Adana, Turkey. Great Turkish violinist.She started playing the violin at the age of five and gave her first public concerts when she was only nine years old, performing Mozart's A major and Viotti's A minor violin concertos with the Presidential Symphony...
and the Pekinel sisters
Pekinel sisters
Güher Pekinel and Süher Pekinel as identical twins, are Turkish pianists performing mostly in duet.-Early years:...
.
Folk music
Most songs recount stories of real life events and Turkish folklore
Turkish folklore
The tradition of folklore—folktales, jokes, legends, and the like—in the Turkish language is very rich, and is incorporated into everyday life and events.-Nasreddin Hoca:...
, or have developed through song contests between troubadour poets. Corresponding to their origins, folk songs are usually played at weddings, funerals and special festivals.
Regional folk music generally accompanies folk dances, which vary significantly across regions. For example, at marriage ceremonies in the Aegean guests will dance the Zeybek, while in other Rumeli
Rumelia
Rumelia was an historical region comprising the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Europe...
regions the upbeat dance music Çiftetelli
Tsifteteli
The Tsifteteli , is a rhythm and dance of Anatolia and the Balkans with a rhythmic pattern of 2/4. The dance is probably of Turkish origin and in the Turkish language it means "double stringed", taken from the violin playing style that is practiced in this kind of music...
is usually played, and in the southeastern regions of Turkey the Halay
Turkish folklore dances
Turkish dance refers to the folk dances of Turkey. On the border between Europe and the Middle East, facing three seas, straddling important trade routes, Turkey has an ancient and complicated culture, reflected in the variety of its dances. However its dance traditions are dominated by the...
is the customary form of local wedding music and dance. Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
from Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
that have adopted çiftetelli music sometimes use it synonymously to mean oriental dance, which indicates a misunderstanding of its roots. Çiftetelli is a folk dance, differing from a solo performance dance of a hired entertainer.
The regional mood also affects the subject of the folk songs, e.g. folk songs from the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
are lively in general and express the customs of the region. Songs about betrayal have an air of defiance about them instead of sadness, whereas the further south travelled in Turkey the more the melodies resemble a lament
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...
.
As this genre is viewed as a music of the people, musicians in socialist movements began to adapt folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements in the form of protest music
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
.
In the 70s and 80s, modern bards following the aşık tradition such as Aşik Veysel and Mahsuni Şerif moved away from spiritual invocations to socio-politically active lyrics.
Other contemporary progenitors took their lead such as Zülfü Livaneli
Zülfü Livaneli
Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...
, known for his mid-80s innovation of combining poet Nazim Hikmet's
Nazim Hikmet
Nâzım Hikmet Ran , commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet , was a Turkish poet, playwright, novelist and memoirist. He was acclaimed for the "lyrical flow of his statements"...
radical poems with folk music and rural melodies, and is well regarded by left-wing supporters in politics.
In more recent times, saz orchestras, accompanied with many other traditional instruments and a merger with arabesque melodies have kept modern folk songs popular in Turkey.
Folk instruments
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
, bow instruments such as the kemençe (a type of stave fiddle), and percussion and wind, including the zurna
Zurna
The zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”...
, ney
Ney
The ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...
and davul
Davul
The davul or tupan is a large double-headed drum that is played with sticks. It has many names depending on the country and region.-Names:Some names of davuls include:*tupan *davul...
. Regional variations place importance on different instruments, e.g. the darbuka in Rumeli
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
and the kemençe around the Eastern Black Sea
Black Sea Region
The Black Sea Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the south, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the southeast, the Republic of Georgia to the northeast, and the Black Sea to the north.-...
region.
The folklore of Turkey is extremely diverse. Nevertheless, Turkish folk music is dominantly marked by a single musical instrument called saz
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
or bağlama
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
, a type of long-necked lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
. Traditionally, saz is played solely by traveling musicians known as ozan or religious Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
troubadours called aşık.
Due to the cultural crossbreeding prevalent during the Ottoman Empire, the bağlama has influenced various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, e.g. the Greek baglama
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
s. In Turkish bağlamak means 'to tie' as a reference to the tied, movable frets of the instrument. Like many other plucked lutes, it can be played with a plectrum (i.e., pick), with a fingerpicking style, or strummed with the backs of fingernails. The zurna
Zurna
The zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”...
and davul
Davul
The davul or tupan is a large double-headed drum that is played with sticks. It has many names depending on the country and region.-Names:Some names of davuls include:*tupan *davul...
duo is also popular in rural areas, and played at wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s and other local celebrations.
Folk Literature
A large body of folk songs are derived from minstrels or bard-poets called ozan in Turkish. They have been developing Turkish folk literature since the beginning of 11th century. The musical instrument used by these bard-poets is the sazBaglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
or baglama
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
. They are often taught by other senior mistrels, learning expert idioms and procedure and methods about the performance of the art. These lessons often take place at minstrel meetings and coffeehouse
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
s frequented by them. Those bard-poets who become experts or alaylı then take apprentices for themselves and continue the tradition.
A minstrel's creative output usually takes two major forms. One, in musical rhyming contests with other bards, where the quarrel ends with the defeat of the minstrel who cannot find an appropriate quatrain to the rhyme and two, story telling. These folk stories are extracted from real life, fokelore, dreams and legends. One of the most well-known followings are those bards that put the title aşık in front of their names.
Mosque music
"Mosque music," a term for music associated with mainstream religion in Turkey, includes ezan (call-to-prayer), Kur'an-ı Kerim (Koran recitation), Mevlit (Ascension Poem), and ilahi (hymns usually sung in a group, often outside a mosque). On musical grounds, mosque music in large urban areas often resembles classical Turkish music in its learned use of makam and poetry, e.g., a Mevlit sung at Sultan Ahmet mosque in Istanbul. Dervish/Sufi music is rarely associated with a mosque. Kâni KaracaKani Karaca
Kâni Karaca , born in Adana, Turkey was a Turkish singer. He lost his eyesight at the age of 2 and memorized the Quran in elementary school. He came to Istanbul in 1950 and worked with Sadettin Kaynak, a major composer and performer of Turkish music at the time...
was a leading performer of mosque music in recent times.
Alevi influences: The Aşık (Ashik) traditions
It is suggested that about a fifth of the Turkish population are Alevis, whose folk music is performed by a type of travelling bard or ozan called aşık, who travels with the sazBaglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
or baglama
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
, an iconic image of Turkish folk music. These songs, which hail from the central northeastern area, are about mystical revelations, invocations to Alevi saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s and Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's son-in-law, Ali, whom they hold in high esteem. In Turkish aşık literally means 'in love'. Whoever follows this tradition has the Aşık assignation put before their names, because it is suggested that music becomes an essential facet of their being, for example as in Aşık Veysel.
Middle Anatolia is home to the bozlak
Bozlak
Bozlak is a form of Turkish folk song from Central Anatolia accompanied by the long-necked saz and ney or kaval. The main subjects of the melancholic songs are separation and love. The songs begin with a very high pitched vocal and end in a low vocal...
, a type of declamatory, partially improvised music by the bards. Neşet Ertaş
Neset Ertas
Neşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk music singer, lyrics writer and a virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as halk şairi, which literally means "folk poet"....
has so far been the most prominent contemporary voice of Middle Anatolian music, singing songs of a large spectrum, including works of premodern Turkoman
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
aşıks like Karacaoğlan
Karacaoglan
Karacaoğlan is a 17th century Ottoman folk poet and ashik. His exact dates of birth and death are unknownbut it is widely accepted that he was born around 1606 and died around 1680...
and Dadaloğlu
Dadaloğlu
Dadaloğlu was an Ottoman folk poet -Background :In the Ottoman Empire there were two distinct literatures. Literature of the palace, so called divan literature used Ottoman Turkish, a language with extensive burrowings of words and phrases from Persian and Arabic. This language was not used in...
and the modern aşıks like his father, the late Muharrem Ertaş. Around the city of Sivas, aşık music has a more spiritual bent, afeaturing ritualized song contests, although modern bards have brought it into the political arena.
Sufi influences: The Mevlevi traditions
Followers of the MevleviMevlevi
The Mevlevi Order, or the Mevlevilik or Mevleviye are a Sufi order founded in Konya by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. They are also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form...
Order or whirling dervishes are a religious sufi sect unique to Turkey but well-known outside of its boundaries.
Dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
es of the Mevlevi sect simply dance a sema by turning continuously to music that consists of long, complex compositions called ayin. These pieces are both preceded and followed by songs using lyrics by the founder and poet Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi. With the musical instrument known as the ney
Ney
The ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...
at the forefront of this music, internationally well-known musicians include Necdet Yasar, Niyazi Sayin, Kudsi Ergüner
Kudsi Erguner
Kudsi Erguner is a Turkish musician. He is considered a master of traditional Mevlevi Sufi music and is one of the best-known players of the Turkish ney flute.-Biography:...
and Ömer Faruk Tekbilek.
Regional folk styles
Minorities and indigenous peoples have added and enhanced Turkish folk styles, while they have adopted Turkish folk traditions and instruments. Folk songs are identifable and distinguished by regions.Aegean and Rumeli regions
The region of RumeliRumelia
Rumelia was an historical region comprising the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Europe...
or Roumelia is used to indicate the part of Turkey which is in Europe, namely provinces of Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
, Kırklareli
Kirklareli
Kırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. The province has a coastline on the Black Sea. There is a Jewish community.-Name:It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name...
, Tekirdağ
Tekirdag
Tekirdağ , the ancient Bisanthi , is a city in Eastern Thrace, in the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province, felt by the local people to be a quieter and more pleasant town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The city population as of 2009 was...
and the western part of Istanbul Province. Folk songs from this region share similarities with Balkan and Greek folk music, especially from the ethnic minorities and natives of Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. Cypriot folk music also shares folk tunes with this region, e.g. the Çiftetelli dance. These type of folk songs also share close similarities with Ottoman court music, strengthening the suggestion by some that the distinction between court and folk music wasn't always so clear. However, it could arguably be that folk songs from Istanbul were closely influenced by its locality, which would include Ottoman rakkas and court music.
Cities like İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
share similar motifs, such as the Zeybek dance.
Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions
Central Asian Turkic peoples from the Caspian SeaCaspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
and areas have had a huge influence in the purest forms of Turkish folk music, most notably from the Azeris and Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
.
Pontic Greeks
Pontic Greeks
The Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
on the eastern shore of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
or Karadeniz regions have their own distinct style of folk music, motifs from which were used with great success by Helena Paparizou
Elena Paparizou
Eleni "Elena" Paparizou , usually referred to abroad as Helena Paparizou, is a Greek-Swedish singer and occasional songwriter, who was born and raised in Sweden by Greek parents. She began her career there in 1999 as a member of the duo Antique, while she also worked briefly as a model for a...
. The diaspora of Greek speaking Pontic people from that region introduced Pontic music to Greece after 1924 population exchange between Turkey and Greece. The region's dance style uses unique techniques like odd shoulder tremors and knee bends. Folk dances include the gerasari, trgona, kots, omal
Omal
The Omal was one of the first dances to be developed from the region of Pontos. It is a relaxed dance and is danced for long periods of time, usually preluding the tik dance. There are many different melodies for different songs; one of the most famous songs is "Serranda Mila Kokkina"...
, serra
Serra (dance)
Serra, was a Pontic Greek dance named after the region of Pontos. It is a war-like dance for men, intended to produce a fervent state prior to battle....
, kotsari
Kotsari
Kochari , is an old folk dance, danced today by Pontic Greeks, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Assyrians, Turks and Kurds.Kochari is closely related to the "Haleh" or "Yalli", a dance common to Azerbaijanis, Assyrians, and Kurds....
and tik
TiK
TiK is an open source instant messaging client for the AOL Instant Messenger system, which uses AOL's TOC protocol. It is a GUI client which is written in the Tcl/Tk programming language...
.
Southeastern regions
Southeastern regions carry influences from Turkmen musicTurkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, Kurdish music
Kurdish music
Kurdish music refers to music performed in Kurdish language.Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers , minstrels and bards . There was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings is...
, Zaza motifs
Zaza people
The Zazas, Kird, Kirmanc or Dimilis are an ethnic Iranic people whose native language is Zazaki spoken in eastern Anatolia. They primarily live in the eastern Anatolian provinces, such as Adıyaman, Aksaray, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzurum, Erzincan , Gumushane, Kars, Malatya, Mus,...
and Armenian music. These usually include epic laments.
Kanto (Cantare music)
ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
theater and opera has had a profound effect on Turkish culture in the past century. Like the terminology of seamanship, the terminology of music and theater derived from Italian. In the argot of the improvisational theater of Istanbul the stage was called "sahano", backstage was referred to as "koyuntu", backdrops depicting countryside were "bosko
Bosko
Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko is the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series, and is the star of over three dozen Looney Tunes shorts released by Warner Bros...
", the applause was "furi
Furi
Mount Furi is a stratovolcano near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Located in the south eastern outskirt of Addis Ababa, this mountain has a latitude and longitude of and an altitude of 2839 meters....
" and the songs sung between the acts and plays were called "kanto".
The improvised pieces were stage adaptations of the Karagöz
Karagiozis
Karagiozis or Karaghiozis is a shadow puppet and fictional character of Greek and Turkish folklore...
(shadow puppet) and Ortaoyunu (traditional form of Turkish theatre performed in the open) traditions, aithough in much more simplifled form. The themes explored in these traditional theater arts as well as their stock characterizations and stereotypes were used as the framework tor the new extemporaneous performances of the tuluat (improvised) theater.
As with their Italian counterparts the Turkish troupes employed songs and music before the show and between the acts to pique people's interest and draw in customers.
Kanto: songs sung between the acts as solos or duets, based on traditional eastern makam (modes) but performed on western instruments.
Kanto: "first the introduction, then the lyrics, shake your shoulders to a violin, solo, cock your head and shimmy in oriental dance style, leap around like a partridge, then slowly disappear behind the curtain."
Kanto: the irreplaceable unifying feature of ali Turkish tuluat theater.
We can divide kanto into two periods. The division, particulariy in terms of musical structure, is very clear between the early kanto and the kanto of the Post-Republic perlod. It is further possible to identify two styles within the early period. Galata and Direklerarası (both neighbourhoods of Old Istanbul).
Kanto first took root in the musical the aters of Galata, a part of town frequented by sailors, rowdies and roustabouts. Ahmet Rasim Bey paints a vivid picture of the Galata theaters in his novel Fuhs-i Akit (An Old Whore).
"Everyone thought Peruz was the most flirtatious, most skillful and the most provocative. The seats closest to the stage were always crammed full... They said of Peruz, 'she is a trollop who has ensnared the heart of many a young man and has made herself the enemy of many. 'Her songs would hardly be finished when chairs, flowers, bouquets and beribboned letters. Come flying from the boxseats. It seemed the building would be shaken to the ground."
Direklerarası was a littie off the beaten track and in comparison to Galata was a more refined center of entertainment. Direklerarası was said to be quite lively at night during the month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish) and certainly once its attractions was its family atmosphere. It was here that the troupes of Kel Hasan and Abdi Efendi and later that of Neshid enjoyed a great popularity. It was under the influence of these masters that kanto experienced its golden years.
The troupes orchestra would be made up of such instruments as the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, trap drum
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s. The orchestra would start to play popular songs of the day and marches in front of the theatre about an hour before the show to drum up interest. This intermission or Antrak music ended up with the well-known Izmir March, a sign that the show time was approaching. The play began as the musicians went in and took their places at the side of the stage.
The kanto singers of the period were also composers. Set to extraordinarily simple melodies which were the fashion of the day, the lyrics relied heavily of tensions between men and women as well as reflecting topical events. The compositions were in such fundamental makam
Makam
Makam In Turkish classical music, a system of melody types called makam provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance...
s as Rast, Hüzzam, Hicaz, Hüseyni and Nihavent. Kanto songs are remembered both by the names of their interpreters and by their creators, artists such as Peruz, Shamran, Kamelya, Eleni. Küçük and Büyük Amelya, Mari Ferha and Virjin. That kanto brought an erotic element to the stage performance was an important aspect and one that should not be overlooked or separated out.
Art and cultural life gained new dimensions with the changes brought about by the 1923 formation of the Turkish Republic. It was a period of rapid transformation and its effects were widespread. Turkish women had finally won the freedom to appear on the stage, breaking the monopoly previously held by Rûm
Rûm
Rûm, also Roum or Rhum , an indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and referring to Greeks living outside of Greece or non-muslims...
(Istanbul Greek) and Armenian women who performed in musical and non-musical theatre. Institutions like Darulbedayi (Istanbul City Theatre) and Darulelhan (Istanbul Conservatory of Music) had long been turning out trained artists.
Western lifestyles and Western-style art put pressure on the traditional Turkish formats and these were swept off to the side. The operetta, the tango, then later the Charleston
Charleston (dance)
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...
and the foxtrot overshadowed kanto. Kanto's popoularity began to fade, the city's centers of entertainment shifted, and the theaters of Galata and Direklerarası were closed down. Turkish female artists were unreceptive to kanto's inherent ribairy and chose to keep their distance from it.
Around 1935, there was a revival of interest in the kanto form. Aithough rather far from its fundamental principles, a new type of kanto was once again popular.
It is important to point out that kanto had now moved from the stage to the recording studio. While the subjects dealt with in the lyrics were stili the same old quarreis between men and women, mixed in with satirical takes on fashion and current events, the songs were being written with the 78 rpm phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
in mind. So much so that every record label hired their own kanto composers—and rather famous ones at that. With Columbia at the fore, record labels commissioned kanto from Kaptanzade Ali Rıza Bey, Refik Fersan, Dramalı Hasan, Sadettin Kaynak
Sadettin Kaynak
Sadettin Kaynak was a prominent composer of Turkish classical music.-Biography:Born in Istanbul, he became a hafiz at a young age. He completed his music education at the Istanbul University. Later, he traveled to south east Anatolia and researched Turkish folk music there...
, Cümbüş Mehmet and Mildan Niyazi Bey. The makams were the same but the instrumentation had changed. Kanto were now accompanied by cümbüş (a fretlees banjo like instrument) the ud (a fretless) lute, and calpara (castenets). Foxtrot, Charleston
Charleston (dance)
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...
and rumba
Rumba (dance)
Rumba is a dance term with two quite different meanings.In some contexts, "rumba" is used as shorthand for Afro-Cuban rumba, a group of dances related to the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. The most common Afro-Cuban rumba is the guaguancó...
rhythms dominated. The tunes were being written and sung more tor listening than tor dancing. Female soloists include Makbule Enver, Mahmure, and Neriman; Beşiktaşlı Kemal Senman was the most sought after male singer for duets.
Among the topics explored by the new kantocu (singer or composer of kanto) perhaps the most frequent subjert of satire was the new role of women brought about by the formation of the Republic. Songs like Sarhoş Kızlar (Drunken Girls) or Şoför Kadınlar (Women Drivers) were sung seemingly in revenge tor ali the suffering they had endured at the hands of men in the past. Other topical songs include Daktilo (The Typewriter) which brought to mind the newly formed Secretaires 7 Society. Songs such as Bereli Kız (The Girl with the Beret) and Kadın Asker Olursa (Women Were Soldiers) were full of mockery and ridicule.
The early period kanto were largely nourished by Istanbul culture. It was much the same in the Post-Republican period. The city's large and diverse population provided both the characters and the events that were the mainstay of kanto. Kanto was heavily influenced by musical theatre. Roman (gypsy) music and culture, which was itself the subject of satire, left its mark on kanto form. Another major influence was Rum music. The importance of the Istanbul Rum, who were so fond of entertainment and of singing and playing, must not be underestimated. It is a natural and inevitable resuit of cultural exchange. As it was, almost all the kanto singers were either Rum or Armenian, artist like Pepron, Karakas, Haim
Haim
Haim is the surname of:* Corey Haim , Canadian actor* Paul Ben-Haim* Mathilda May , French actress* Soleiman Haim* Tal Ben Haim* :fr:Victor Haïm, French playwright, father of Mathilde May...
, Samran and Peruz
Peruz
Peruz also known as Peruz Hanım or Kantocu Peruz, Perviz Hanım was an Ottoman Armenian kanto singer, song-writer. Her family name was Terzakyan. One of her nicknames was Afet-i Devran Peruz.....
who performed during the period following 1903.
Eventually kanto became more of a definition, a generalized genre than a musical term. Any tune that was outside of the day's musical conventions, anything light that appealed to current trends and tastes, was labeled kanto. Any music played with different instruments that was free rhythmic or somehow novel was labeled kanto; it was the product of the middie-class, urban culture of Istanbul.
Kanto has been viewed as a forerunner of today's pop culture.
Popular music
Popular music is distinguished from the traditional genres as those styles that entered the Turkish musicality after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, either due to attempts of national modernization from 1924 onwards, the opening of the republic to Western musical influences or modern fusions and innovations from artists themselves.Mainstream pop
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. As more styles emerged, they were also adopted, such as hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
.
The self named "superstar" of the "arrangement" (aranjman) era of the 70s was Ajda Pekkan
Ajda Pekkan
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed...
who also debuted, along with Enrico Macias
Enrico Macias
Gaston Ghrenassia, known by his stage name Enrico Macias, is an Algerian French Pied noir singer and musician...
, at Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, while MFÖ
MFO
-Organisation:* Maison Française d'Oxford, a French research institute based in Oxford, England* Multinational Force and Observers, an international peacekeeping force; or the related medal...
(Mazhar, Fuat, Özkan) was the celebrated group of the pop scene with an outstanding dexterity in their use of Turkish prosody and their success of amalgamating Western and Turkish cultural ingredients and perspectives. Also one of the most renowned Turkish pop stars of the last decades is probably Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu is a Turkish pop music singer, song-writer and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ....
. She contributed considerably to the unique Turkish pop sound of this period, allowing it gain ground from its humble beginnings in the early 50s and 60s to the popular genre it is today. She was also one of the strongest advocates for Turkey to enter the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. Her one-time vocalist and later protegé Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music...
won the contest in 2003.
The biggest male pop stars in Turkey are arguably Tarkan, Mustafa Sandal
Mustafa Sandal
Mustafa Sandal, commonly known as Musti, is a famous Turkish pop singer. He is fluent in English, Turkish, Italian and French. He emerged in the early 1990s with the revival of Turkish pop music and is one of the most successful pop singers in Turkey with overall sales of 13 million copies...
and Kenan Doğulu. Tarkan achieved chart success in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
with his single "Şımarık
Simarik
Şımarık is a 1997 song by Turkish singer Tarkan. Its lyrics were written by Sezen Aksu, with music credited as composed by Tarkan, Aksu and Ozan Çolakoğlu at the time. However, Tarkan later admitted in a 2006 interview that this had been done without Aksu's consent, who was the true copyright owner...
", also composed by Sezen Aksu, which has been covered by numerous artists. Mustafa Sandal has also enjoyed chart success in Europe with his 2005 single "İsyankar
Isyankar
"İsyankar" was Mustafa Sandal's fourth CD single and third CD single to be internationally released. It was recorded and released in 2005.-Turkish Release:* İsyankar, 2005...
", which peaked at number 4 and went gold.
Turkish hip hop
Turkish hip hopTurkish hip hop
-History:Before Turkish hip hop took hold in Turkey, specifically Istanbul and Ankara, it originally grew out of Turkish ethnic enclaves in Germany. Owing its large population to the Turkish migrants that came to Germany in the 1960s as Gastarbeiter , 2/3 of all Turks in Germany are under the age...
or oriental hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
is a creation of the Turkish migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
community in Germany, which some suggest was a suitable outlet for a young generation disillusioned with Germany's treatment of its migrant class. In 1995, the Turkish-German community produced a major hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
crew named Cartel which caused controversy in Turkey and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for its revolutionary lyrics. Hip hop now enjoys wide popularity among the younger generation in Turkey. Ceza
Ceza
Bilgin Özçalkan better known by his stage name Ceza is the most commercially famous and influential Turkish rapper. His albums have featured many artists including Sezen Aksu, Candan Erçetin, Tech N9ne, Dr. Fuchs, and his sister Ayben...
(formerly "Nefret") and Sagopa Kajmer
Sagopa Kajmer
Yunus Özyavuz , better known by his stage name Sagopa Kajmer , is a Turkish rap artist, producer and DJ. He is also the pioneer of the Pessimist Rap subgenre of Turkish Hip Hop....
are popular figures of contemporary rap music in Turkey. Another popular Turkish hip-hop group is called "Turks with Attitude" who have a popular track called "My Melody". This track samples from the American rapper Rakim's "Check Out my Melody", using a traditional form of Turkish music called arabesque to blend the two styles and cultures together.
Arabesque
Starting in the 1970s, immigration from predominantly southeastern rural areas to big cities and particularly to Istanbul gave rise to a new cultural synthesis. This changed the musical makeup of Istanbul. The old tavernas and music halls of fasıl music were to shut down in place of a new type of music. These new urban residents brought their own taste of music, which due to their locality was largely middle eastern. Musicologists derogatively termed this genre as arabesque due to the high pitched wailing that is synonymous with Arabic singing.Its mainstream popularity rose so much in the 1980s that it even threatened the existence of Turkish pop, with rising stars such as Muslum Gurses
Müslüm Gürses
Müslüm Akbaş , better known as Müslüm Gürses is a Turkish folk singer.He was born in 1953 in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. He married Muhterem Nur in 1983....
and Ibrahim Tatlises
Ibrahim Tatlises
-References:...
. The genre has underbeat forms that include Ottoman forms of belly-dancing music
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
known as fantazi from singers like Gülben Ergen
Gülben Ergen
Gülben Ergen is a Turkish singer and occasional actress. She was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and has acted in films and on television. Her most famous role is probably that of Melek in Dadı, the Turkish version of The Nanny. She was named Miss Cinema 1987 and later by the help of her famous friends...
and with performers like Orhan Gencebay
Orhan Gencebay
Orhan Gencebay is a Turkish musician, bağlama virtuoso, composer, singer, arranger, music producer, music director, and actor.-Early life and musical background:...
who added Anglo-American rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
to arabesque music.
Anatolian rock
The Turkish rock scene began in the mid- to late 1960s, when popular United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
bands became well-known. Soon, a distinctively Turkish fusion of rock and folk emerged; this was called Anatolian rock, a term which nowadays may be generically ascribed to most of Turkish rock. Cem Karaca
Cem Karaca
Muhtar Cem Karaca , also called Cem Baba , was a prominent Turkish rock musician and one of the most important figures in the Anatolian rock movement.-Biography:...
and Barış Manço
Baris Manço
Barış Manço was a Turkish rock singer, composer, and television producer. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Urdu and Arabic...
are the best known performers and Moğollar
Mogollar
Moğollar is one of the pioneer bands in Turkish rock music for about 40 years and one of the founders of Turkish folk rock...
is the best known group of older classical Anatolian rock music.
Islamic Anasheed
IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic anasheed are also very popular among some of the Turkish people. The most popular artist in Turkey is the British Azeri, Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf is a British singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist musician of Azeri origin.In 2003 Yusuf released his first album "Al-Mu`allim" at the age of 23, selling over two million copies...
, a concert 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...
drew an audience of over 200,000, his biggest concert so far around the world. He is one of the most notable singers of anasheed, and can speak in many different languages, which includes 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,...
. To date he has performed at sell out concerts in over 30 countries across the world from Istanbul to Casablanca, United States to Germany. Some albums selling more than a million copies in comparison to western music. In Jan 2009 Sami travelled to Turkey where he was invited by Emine Erdoğan, wife of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
, to attend a rally in support of peace in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. Another popular Turkish singer is Feridun Özdemir, who mainly sings of God and true faith. His records are most successful in the anasheed genre.
Heavy metal and industrial
Heavy metal and industrial groups from Turkey include Pentagram (known as MezarkabulMezarkabul
Mezarkabul is a Turkish metal band formed by Hakan Utangaç and Cenk Ünnü. Mezarkabul is known for integrating Anatolian elements into their music. Mezarkabul means 'accepting the grave', or literally 'grave accept' in Turkish....
outside Turkey)and Almora. Individual musicians in these genres include Ogün Sanlısoy
Ogün Sanlisoy
Ogün Sanlısoy is a Turkish rock musician and a pioneer among Turkish heavy metal vocalists.-Biography:Born in Gölcük, Turkey in 1971. Graduated from Mimar Sinan University as an industrial product designer...
and Hayko Cepkin
Hayko Cepkin
Hayko Cepkin is a Turkish musician of Armenian ethnicity who is mostly known for the unique music he constructs that ranges from alternative metal to melodic tunes...
.
Pop-rock and rock
As a singular phenomenon amidst popular currents since the mid-70s, Bülent OrtaçgilBülent Ortaçgil
Bülent Ortaçgil is a Turkish composer and singer.-Biography:He was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1950. He moved to Istanbul after starting elementary school which he finished at Sultanahmet Elementary School in Istanbul. He completed his middle school and high school education at Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi...
appeared as an urban songwriter/musician with a distinct musical quality, and became a role model for aspiring young musicians. He was the only Turkish musician for whom a tribute album was compiled that included several prominent performers from a wide gamut of different genres.
Other recent rock bands with a more Western sound who have enjoyed mainstream success include maNga, Duman
Duman (band)
Duman is a Turkish rock band. The band combines elements of traditional Turkish folk music with modern rock and grunge...
and Mor ve Ötesi
Mor ve Ötesi
Mor ve Ötesi is a Turkish alternative rock band from Istanbul. Its four current members are Harun Tekin , Kerem Kabadayı , Burak Güven and Kerem Özyeğen . Former members include Alper Tekin and Derin Esmer...
. Şebnem Ferah
Sebnem Ferah
Şebnem Ferah is a Turkish singer and song-writer. She was the head vocalist of the all-female hard rock band Volvox until 1994, after which she went on to pursue an illustrious solo career...
, Özlem Tekin
Özlem Tekin
Özlem Tekin is a Turkish singer, TV show host and occasional actress, primarily known for her music. Though she started out in the hard rock genre, her music has progressed to incorporate different styles such as house, punk, pop and Turkish folk music.-Life and career:Özlem Tekin was born in...
and Teoman are examples of individual rock artists with substantial fan bases. Turkey also boasts numerous large-scale rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
s and events. Annual rock festivals in Turkey include Barışarock
Barisarock
Barışarock is an annual rock festival organized in Istanbul, Turkey....
, H2000 Music Festival
H2000 Music Festival
The H2000 Music Festival is a large-scale open-air rock and alternative music festival series annually held in Turkey. The first event was held in 2000. Former participant artists or bands include: Muse, the Gathering, HIM, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Starsailor, Suedu, Mor ve Ötesi, and...
, Rock'n Coke
Rock'n Coke
Rock'n Coke is a Turkish rock festival sponsored by Coca-Cola. It is traditionally held at the Hezarfen Airfield in Istanbul, Turkey.- Festival :Rock'n Coke is a member of the . The festival is organized by the Turkish concert organizer...
, and RockIstanbul
RockIstanbul
RockIstanbul is the name of an old large scale open air rock festival series annually had been organized in Istanbul, Turkey. Highlights from recent performers include Kraftwerk, Garbage, Megadeth, Faithless, Queensrÿche, Starsailor, and Anathema.-2005:...
.
Underground and clubs
There are many clubs across Turkey, especially across its Aegean region. The alternative music scene however is derived mostly from Istanbul's thriving underground club scene that sees DJs merging the past with the present, utilising traditional motifs with new age sounds and electronic music. Mercan DedeMercan Dede
Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...
is one of Turkey's most successful DJs, mixing trance with historical and mystic Sufi songs. Another worldwide recognized name from the underground music scene of Turkey is Mert Yücel
Mert Yücel
Mert Yücel is an electronic music producer and definitely one of the key players defining the underground house sound emerging from Istanbul. Yücel produced the first house music album ever released in his own country, Turkey...
. Yücel was responsible for the first house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
album to be released in Turkey. He also had worldwide acclaimed and respected releases on US and UK dance labels. He is one of the key names defining the underground house sound emerging from Istanbul.
Music industry
The Turkish music industry includes a number of fields, ranging from record companies to radio stations and community and state orchestras. Most of the major record companies are based in Istanbul's region of Unkapanı and they are represented by the Turkish Phonographic Industry Society (MÜ-YAP). The major record companies produce material by artists that have signed to one of their record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s, a brand name often associated with a particular genre or record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Record companies may also promote and market their artists, through advertising, public performances and concerts, and television appearances.
In recent years, the music industry has been embroiled in turmoil over the rise of the Internet downloading of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed music and general piracy; many musicians and MÜ-YAP have sought to punish fans who illegally download copyrighted music. On 13 June 2006 it was reported that MÜ-YAP and The Orchard, the world's leading distributor and marketer of independent music, had reached an agreement on digital global distribution, representing approximately 80% of the Turkish music market.
There is not a substantial singles market in Turkey. It is album orientated, although popular singers such as Yonca Evcimik
Yonca Evcimik
Yonca Evcimik is a Turkish pop singer and actress.-Biography:Evcimik studied dance and ballet at the academy of music at Mimar Sinan University. In an interview she revealed that she worked as a sales agent for a life insurance company before starting her career. After graduation she worked at...
and Tarkan have released singles with success. Most music charts not related to album sales, measure popularity by music video feedback and radio airplay.
Turkish radio stations often broadcast popular music. Each music station has a format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
, or a category of songs to be played; these are generally similar to but not the same as ordinary generic classification. With the introduction of commercial radio and television in the early 1990s ending the monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...
(TRT), a multitude of radio and TV stations were opened by newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
media moguls. These media chains sponsor award ceremonies such as the Kral TV awards for music, but most accredited music awards are based on sales given out by industry societies such as MÜ-YAP and the Magazine Journalists Society (MJS).
Though major record companies dominate the Turkish industry, an independent music industry (indie music) does exist. Indie music is mostly based around local record labels with limited, if any, retail distribution outside a small region. Artists sometimes record for an indie label and gain enough acclaim to be signed to a major label; others choose to remain at an indie label for their entire careers. Indie music may be in styles generally similar to mainstream music, but is often inaccessible, unusual or otherwise unappealing to many people. Indie musicians often release some or all of their songs over the Internet for fans and others to download and listen to.
Perhaps the most successful Turkish name associated with the indie music outside of Turkey is Ahmet Ertegün
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. His promotion of some of the most famous R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and soul artists in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and his contribution to the American music industry has earned a place in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, together with his brother Nesuhi
Nesuhi Ertegun
Nesuhi Ertegun was a Turkish record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.-Background:Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Nesuhi and his family, including younger brother Ahmet, moved to Washington, D.C...
.
Music education
Music is an important part of education in TurkeyEducation in Turkey
Education in Turkey is governed by a national system which was established in accordance with the Atatürk Reforms after the Turkish War of Independence...
, and is a part of most or all school systems in the country. High schools generally offer classes in singing, mostly choral, and instrumentation in the form of a large school band
School band
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors...
or social clubs and communities for Turkish classical or folk music, known as cemiyets. Music may also be a part of theatrical productions put on by a school's drama department. Many public and private schools have sponsored music clubs and groups, most commonly including the marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
that performs Mehter marches at school festivals.
Higher education in the field of music in Turkey is mostly based around large universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, connected to state music academies
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
and conservatories
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
. A conservatory is usually a department of a university, not a separate institution. While many students join conservatories at the usual university entrance age, some conservatories also include a 'Lise' (Lycee), in effect a specialist music school for children aged 14 to 18 years. Conservatories often have a musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
department, and do research on many styles of music especially the Turkish traditional genres, while also keeping a database of sounds in their sound libraries.
Holidays and festivals
Music is an important part of several Turkish holidays and festivals, especially playing a major part in the springtime celebration of Newroz and religious festivities such as RamadanRamadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
. New year is a traditional time for the belly dancer and weddings are celebrated with upbeat tunes, while funerals are mourned with musical laments. Patriotic songs like the national anthem, "The Independence March
Istiklâl Marsi
The İstiklâl Marşı is the National Anthem of Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, officially adopted on 12 March 1921 - two and a half years before the 29 October 1923 establishment of the Republic of Turkey, both as a motivational musical saga for the troops fighting in the Turkish War...
", are a major part of public holiday celebrations such as National Children's Day celebrations on 23 April and 30 August Victory Day celebrations, a holiday that marks Turkish independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
. Music also plays a role at many regional festivals that aren't celebrated nationwide, for example a music and dance parade and festival in Zonguldak
Zonguldak
Zonguldak is a city and the capital of Zonguldak Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Its population, according to the 2009 census, was 108,792. It is an important port on the Black Sea because of the coal mining in Zonguldak Province...
.
Istanbul, Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
and İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
are also home to numerous music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s which showcase styles ranging from the blues and jazz to indie rock and heavy metal. Some music festivals are strictly local in scope, including few or no performers with a national reputation, and are generally operated by local promoters. Recently large soft drink companies have operated their own music festivals, such as Rock'n Coke
Rock'n Coke
Rock'n Coke is a Turkish rock festival sponsored by Coca-Cola. It is traditionally held at the Hezarfen Airfield in Istanbul, Turkey.- Festival :Rock'n Coke is a member of the . The festival is organized by the Turkish concert organizer...
and Fanta
Fanta
Fanta is a global brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. There are over 90 flavors worldwide. The drink debuted in Germany in 1941 and originally sold only in Europe.-History:...
parties, which draw huge crowds.
See also
- List of Turkish composers
- Turkish musical instrumentsTurkish musical instrumentsTurkish musical instruments can be broadly classified into five categories, namely Ottoman classical, Western influenced modern, Ottoman Harem Music, Folk music and Roman. Most of Turkish musical instruments spread in the former Ottoman Empires states all over the Middle East, Caucasus, Central...
- Turkey in the Eurovision Song ContestTurkey in the Eurovision Song ContestTurkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1975, represented by Semiha Yankı performing "Seninle Bir Dakika", but did not achieve any considerable success until the late 1990s...
- List of music festivals in TurkeyFestivals in Republic of TurkeyMore than 100 festivals are held in Turkey every year. Along with festivals of local scale held in almost every city of the country, cultural events and other festivals of international reach are also organized in major metropolitan centers such as Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Antalya.Istanbul is...
- List of Turkish musicians
- List of Turks in world culture
- Mercan DedeMercan DedeMercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...
- Baba ZulaBaba ZulaBaba Zula is a Turkish musical group, founded in Istanbul in 1996, featuring founding members Levent Akman and Murat Ertel as well as Coşar Kamçı, who replaced original member Emre Onel in 2005. BaBa Zula added live drawing artist Ceren Oykut into the mix in 2004. She left the band in 2010. Her...
- Wojciech BobowskiWojciech BobowskiWojciech Bobowski or Ali Ufki was a Polish musician and dragoman in the Ottoman Empire. He translated the Bible into Ottoman Turkish, composed an Ottoman Psalter, based on the Genevan metrical psalter, and wrote a grammar of the Ottoman Turkish language...
- Arif MardinArif MardinArif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
- The Ertegün BrothersErtegun brothersThe Ertegun brothers, Nesuhi Ertegün and Ahmet Ertegün , sons of Turkish diplomat Münir Ertegün, were the Turkish-American executives of Atlantic Records. They also co-founded the legendary New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League....
- Emre AraciEmre AraciEmre Aracı, Turkish music historian, conductor, composer.- Life :Dr Emre Aracı is a Turkish music historian, composer and conductor who has been living in the United Kingdom since 1987...
Further reading
- De Zorzi, Giovanni (2010). Musiche di Turchia. Tradizioni e transiti tra Oriente e Occidente. con un saggio di Kudsi Erguner. Milano: Ricordi/Universal Music.
- A website devoted to contemporary Turkish Music from Istanbul: http://www.newmusicistanbul.com/
External links
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Selim Sesler, troubadour songs and an Alevi ceremony. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Aynur, Erkan Ogur, Kirike and Rembetiko. Accessed November 25, 2010. Audio clips: Traditional music of Turkey. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- Turkish Music Portal All about Turkish Music
- Music of Turkey
- Crossing The Bridge: Sounds from Istanbul
- Turkish Music and Voice Library
- Music at the Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral NarrativeUysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral NarrativeThe Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative is a searchable archive of oral Turkish literature. The archive is housed in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It includes links to numerous audio recordings in MP3...
- Ney Making House Web Site
- Turkish Clarinet Music
- Golden Horn Records
- Turkish Musical Instruments Shop
- Insomnia Radio: Turkiye (Turkish Indie Music Available in English & Turkish)
- Lifting the Boundaries: Muzaffer Efendi and the Transmission of Sufism to the West by Gregory Blann
- Field music of the Ottoman Court and Europe
- Mevlit "Merhaba bahrı" excerpt sung by Kâni Karaca
- Kanto
- Feza Neverd Interesting instrumental music composed by Mehmet Gencler
- Comprehensive Turkish Music Video Archive
- Rock Music Turkey
- Turkish Top 20
- Matthaios Tsahouridis, a great Pontic Lyra player