music of emperors

Bekir Ünlüataer: voice
Robert Crowe: male sopran
Xaviar Diaz: Lute
Michaela Schmidt: Viola da Gamba
Mehmet Ihsan Özer: Kanun
Hasan Esen Kemençe
Volkan Yilmaz: Ney
Serdar Bisiren: Percussion
Mehmet C. Yesilçay: Ud, Percussion

Turkish Sultans/composers

I. Bayezid (1447-1512)
Sultan Korkut (1467-1513)
II. Gazi Giray Han (1554-1608)
IV. Murad (1612-1640)
I. Mahmud (1696-1754)
III. Selim (1761-1808)

BAYEZID II (1447 - 1512)

The 8th sultan of the empire and son of Mehmet II (The Conqueror). He spent his prince hood in Amasya and ascended to the throne in 1481. He was a poet, calligrapher and a lover of fine arts and sciences. He wrote poems under the pen-name of "Adni". Although we know that Bayezid II loved music and supported musical activities of the Ottoman court, it can not be definitively claimed that he was a composer. In old musical collections we find several composers whose names are all Bayezid, but all of these compositions can not be attributed to Sultan Bayezid II.

SULTAN KORKUT (1467 - 1513)

Son of Bayezid II and the elder brother of Selim I. He was a poet, instrumentalist, composer and also a supporter of fine arts and sciences. He is said to have designed a musical instrument called "gıda-i ruh" or "ruh efza". Some eight compositions in the repertoire have been attributed to Prince Korkut.

GAZI GIRAY KHAN II (1554 - 1608)

13th KHAN OF CRIMEA (r. 1551 - 1577)

Apart from being a successful statesman and military strategist, he was a good poet, calligrapher and composer and supported artists and scholars. He produced excellent instrumental compositions, many of which are still appreciated and frequently performed in concerts. His vokal compositions have not survived.

MURAD IV (1612 - 1640)

17th Ottoman Sultan and son of Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan (Anastassia). He came to the throne at the age of eleven and died when he was only twenty-eight. He was the most cruel of all the Ottoman Sultans. In spite of this, his reign marked one of the most important eras in the history of the Ottoman tradition. At the end of the 16th century musical activities of the court had almost ceased due to serious political and economical problems. Music was revived and made considerable progress during his reign. The first half of the 17th century saw the flourishing of many fine musicians in the Ottoman tradition. Having conquered Bagdad, Murad took the best twelve musicians of Persia to Istanbul, and these artists made their own contributions to Ottoman music. Murad IV wrote poems under the pen-name "Muradi". We learn from Ali Ufki's Mecmua-i Saz ü Söz that he was also a composer and used the pen-name "Shah Murad". Some fifteen compositions in the repertoire bear the signature of "Shah Murad".

MAHMUD I (1596 - 1754)

24th Ottoman sultan. His rule can be considered to be one of the last brilliant periods of the empire, also a great era in Turkish music during which many good composers flourished. Mahmud eagerly supported music and encouraged musical activities in his cour. He wrote poems under the pen-name "Sebkati". Only a few of his instrumental compositions have survived.

SELIM III (1761 - 1808)

28th Ottoman sultan. He was undoubtedly one of the best composers in the Ottoman classical music tradition and played tanbur ad ney. Although there have been a great number of people from the imperial family who took interest in music and who played musical instruments and composed songs, none can compare with Selim III in his enthusiasm for musical pursuits and his achievements as a composer
Gathering together well-known musicaians of the court and city, the young Selim began to encourage musical activities in court even when he was a prince. He also supported female musicians in the Harem section of the Ottoman court. His reign was indubitably the most brilliant era of Turkish music. Abdülhalim Aga, Vardakosta Ahmed Aga, Küçük Mehmed Aga, Sadullah Aga, Emin Aga, Numan Aga, fiakir Aga, Kömürcüzade Hafız Efendi, Tanburi Izak, Dede Efendi and many other leading composers of the tradition flourished during this era in which the Ottoman court's traditional musical patronage went much beyond an official interest.
Introducing novelties in music is the most prominent aspect of this era. The need for creating novelties manifests itself in designing new makams and also bending some established rigid rules to some extent. The years when he was a prince and sultan are usually referred to as "the era of Selim III" in the history of Ottoman music.
Selim III was a Mevlevi (the order of Whirling Dervishes). He never lost his interest in the musical activities in the mevlevihanes (dervish monastry) and other musical centres in the city. He attended liturgical ceremonies of the Whirling Dervishes and visited the Galata Mevlevihanesi to have literary and musical conversations with the great divan poet fieyh Galib. It's remarkable that Hampartzum Limonciyan and Abdülbaki Nasır Dede both developed new notation systems with the encouragement of Selim III. Selim III designed a number of few makams such as suzidilara, fievkefza, fievk-u tarab, arazbuselik and nevakürdi. He composed approximately 70 works using various instrumental and vokal musical forms. He wrote poems under the pen-name "Ilhami" and gathered them in a divan. In some of his vocal compositions he used his own poems for song-texts.

MAHMUD II (1786 - 1839)

30th Ottoman sultan. He ascended to the throne in 1808. Mahmud II was one of the most active sultans in the history of the empire. Having officially inaugurated the Westernization process in Turkey, he abolished the mehterhane, the traditional Janissary band of the empire, and replaced it with the western-type military band. He invited Giuseppe Donizetti, brother of the famous opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, to Istanbul to found Muzıka-i Hümayun (Music of the Imperial Court), an institution that would introduce Western music into Turkey. Muzıka-i Hümayun was in fact a kind of Western music conservatory.

Although Mahmud's official presence was for Western music, he was personally a lover of traditional Ottoman music. Those great composers who flourished in Selim III's court continued to be active at the time of Mahmud II. Therefore, his reign was another brilliant period in the history of Turkish music.

Mahmud II, who played the tanbur and the ney, also took interest in composing and produced beautiful songs. The song on this CD in Hicaz makam, was written and composed by Mahmud II and is a classic of the genre. Mahmud II wrote poems under the pen-name "Adli".

Music at the ottoman court

In addition to the musicians trained within the palace itself, musicians trained outside the palace were sometimes given permanent employment at court or invited to take part now and again in musical activities. The term "küme fasıl" was employed to refer to an ensemble composed of court musicians combined with musicians from outside the palace. A good example of this type of activity is given by the invitation to Hamamizade Ismail Dede Efendi to take part in performances at court. Greatly impressed by the song in the buselik makam (mode) beginning "Zülfündedir benim baht-ı siyahım" which Hamamizade had composed when still a novice in the Mevlevi dervish lodge and which had quickly won great popularity in Istanbul, Selim III sent Vardakosta Ahmet Agha, one of the court accountants, to the lodge to summon Dervish Ismail to the palace. Later, Dede Efendi was to come and go many times between the dervish lodge and the royal court but although at one time he was appointed müezzinbaı (head muezzin) he was never permanently attached to the court. This shows that the Ottoman Court followed musical activities in Istanbul very closely, that it made further musical progress possible by accepting successful musicians into its own organisation and that it played a leading role in providing them with cultural nourishment.

The some sort of set-up is to be found under Sultan Abdülhamid II, who had a great love of Western music and arranged for his daughter Ayfle Sultan to be given piano lessons. On hearing of the fame of Tanburi Cemil Bey, who had become identified with music in Istanbul from the great mansions to the street musicians, he invited him to the palace so as to at least hear him.

In the Ottoman tradition, the terms State, Court and Sultan constituted one integral whole as regards both place and concept. The word State suggested the Sultan who represented it, as well as both the residence of the Sultan and the Court as the place from which the State was governed. Whether the "Court" referred to a palace or to the otagh (state tent) used by the Sultan when on campaign, it remained, together with the Sultan, a symbol of the State. At the time of the foundation of the Ottoman State, music occupied an important place among the symbols representing hegemony, the state and rule (beylik). The banner, tabl (drum) and tug (horsetail) symbolizing rule and hegemony sent to Osman Gazi by Gıyaseddin Mesud, the Seljuk Sultan in Konya, led to the foundation of the Tabl ü Alem Mehterleri or Ottoman military bands. These Tabl ü Alem Mehterleri connected with the court consisted of the standard-bearers entrusted with the protection of the imperial standard (sancak) and of musicians. The mehter would play every day in the afternoon in front of either the time.

The preparation of music books for the court during the reign of Murat II, before the transfer of the capital to Istanbul, and the dedication to Murad II of a work entitled Makasidü'l - Elhan by Maragalı Abdülkadir in Semerkand are both of great importance as evidence of the interest taken in music by the Ottoman Court. Books such as the Risale-i İlmü'l Musiki by Ahmedo€lu, fiükrullah, translated with additions by Safiüddin Abdülmumin, Makasidü'l - Elhan, Nekavetü'l Edvar (Nuruosmaniye Library 3646) written during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror by Abdülaziz, son of Maragalı Abdülkadir, Risale-i Ilmü'l Musiki (Topkapı Saray Museum Library, A 3449), an Arabic book on musical rules written by Fethullah Mü'min, fiirvani and dedicated to Mehmet the Conqueror, show that Eastern Islamic cultural sources were used in the formation of a basis of Ottoman musical culture in the 15th century or, it might be more accurate to say, ensured an accumulation of knowledge that made it possible for Ottoman music to acquire a certain individual identity.

The Classical Period

A description of the musical entertainment at the circumcision festivities held in tents erected on an island in the Maritza river at Edirne in 1457 for the princes Bayezit and Mustafa, the sons of Mehmet I the Conqueror, is given by Dursun Bey in his history of the reign of Mehmet II entitled Tarih-i Ebü'l- Feth. Dursun Bey's use of the term kanun-u padiflah implies that this type of musical entertainment at the court of the Conqueror was a custom peculiar to the court itself and that music was composed in accordance with this custom. From Dursun Bey's mention of ensembles composed of, instruments such as the ud, flefltar, tanbur, rebab and barbut, and particularly the flefltar and barbut, it would appear that this music still displayed a purely Islamic character and had not yet acquired an Ottoman identity. It is doubtful if the tanbur mentioned here is the tanbur in use today, while the rebate is certainly not the stringed instrument we now know and is much more likely to be the, stringed instrument played with a plectrum described by Ahmedoglu, fiükrullah.
From extant documents we learn of the presence at the court of the Conqueror of an ud player by the name of, fiimerd and of a kanun player by the name of Ishak. Among the instrument makers mentioned in a craftsman register dated Rebiyülahir 932 (January 1526) (Topkapı Palace Museum Archives D.9306/3) we find a tanbura player by the name of Muslihiddin, who had been engaged by the palace at a daily wage of 12 akçe during the reign of Mehmet II. This entry shows that during the reign of the Conqueror there were a number of musicians and instrument makers employed at the court on a daily basis. From Dursun Bey's history of the time we also learn that in the ceremonies held on the occasion of Beyazid II's accession to the throne after the Mehmet II period, one of great vitality in both science and art, cushions were spread out on the floor and music performed on the, çeng and barbut.
The work entitled Haza el-Matla'fi Beyanü'l- Edvar ve'l- Makamat ve fi Ilmü'l Esrar ve'r- Riyazat, also known as "Seydi'nin el Matla'ı " (Topkapı Palace Museum A 3459) was copied in 1504 during the reign of Bayezid II. This book contains an interesting section tracing the musical policy adopted at the Ottoman Court at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th. The writer explains that both musical and mathematical theory was ultimately based on the work of Farabi and that Safiüddin Abdülmümin later determined the sounds on a mathematical basis. After stating that during the time of Safiüddin scholars were prohibited from engaging in music, the writer produces various pieces of evidence showing that musical studies were never abandoned.
There were a number of musicians at the court of Bayezid engaged on a daily basis. A list of musicians to be found in a register dating from the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (Topkapı Palace Museum 7643) the kopuzcus fiaban and Husrev, mentioned as having been musicians at the court of Bayezid II, the two kanuni fiadi and Muhittin and a kemençeci by the name of Nasuh. The note "içeriden çıkmıfltır" to be found against the name of kopuzcu Husrev indicates that he was one of the musicians trained in the Enderun during the reign of Bayezid II.
Two miniatures in the Süleymanname of 1558 preserved in the Topkapı Palace Museum which Esin Atıl entitles " Entertainment of Süleyman the Magnificent" depict, musicians performing in the presence of the Sultan, who is seen seated in a pavilion. The same type of musical entertainment can be seen in miniatures depicting the festivities held in Topkapı Palace on the occasion of the circumcision of Süleyman's sons, Bayezid and Cihangir. Singers are to be seen In these miniatures, as well as musicians playing instruments such as the çeng, kanun, ud, rebab (kemençe), ney, mıskal and daire (def). One of the miniatures shows two çengi dancing with çalpara (castanets) in their hands.
The group of musicians known as cemaat-ı mutrıban referred to in the sources as being employed on a daily basis at the Ottoman Court during the reign of Süleyman the Magnifıcent included singers known as guyende (hanende) in addition to avvad (udi), kobuzi, kemançeci, kanuni, çengi and nayi. Names of musicians and instrument makers are to be found in the ehl-i hiref registers containing a list of the artist and others employed in the Court. The notes added to the names indicate that the custom of bringing musicians from Iran that was prevalent at the court of Mehmet the Conqueror was continued under Selim I. Naturally enough, these musicians brought with them the music they knew and were in the habit of performing.
Ottoman court music of the 15th and 16th centuries, while, on the one hand, keeping in constant and close touch with both the theory and the practice of the music of the Eastern Islamic cultural environment, was also strongly characterized by local cultural features. At that period, the State was on its way to becoming a global empire, and Ottoman art, and Ottoman music in particular, was preparing for itself a very special identity in Islamic art. In doing so, it aimed at a synthesis of what it had created itself or discovered in local sources with Islamic culture in general.
Evliya Çelebi relates how, on his reception into the presence of Murad IV in 1635, he performed works in the varsağı, segah, may and bestenigar makams (modes) with words by Murat IV and music by Dervish Ömer, a member of the Gülfleni sect and Evliya Çelebi's former teacher of music. Although a commoner, Evliya Çelebi formed a variety of relations with the court, even, according to his own account, being admitted to the Kiler Odası (Office of the Palace Pantry). That a poem written by the Sultan should be set to music and performed in the presence of the Sultan, along with other works, by an ordinary man of the people sheds an interesting light on the relations between the courts and the community. Evliya Çelebi also relates how on Saturday nights the Sultan would gather singers and musicans, including those who performed ilahi and nast, (hymns and eulogies) and engage in a conversation with them. He also informs us that the saray meflkhanesi (Palace school of music) was located beside the has hamam (royal bath) in the third courtyard of Topkapı Sarayı.
A sketch plan of Topkapı Sarayı drawn at this same period by Ali Ufki Bey (Albert Bobovski), an inmate of the Topkapı Sarayı Enderun, shows the meşkhane in the third courtyard. According to this sketch, the meflkhane is located, not in the position it occupies today, but on the right hand side of the Arzodası (Throne Room), in front of the building in which the garments of the Sultans are now exhibited. In a still extant work entitled Haza Mecmua-i Saz ü Söz containing a large number of works of the period together with examples of popular music sach as varsa€ı, Ali Ufki Bey writes that the "meşkhane" remained open all day long, being closed only at night, and that it was here that the musicians received lessons from their teachers. These teachers lived outside the palace, and would arrive at the palace each day after the first meeting of the divan (council of state), while the içoğlan (pages) engaged in musical activities would live in their own rooms in the Enderun. Ali Ufki Bey mentions a concert presented in accordance with Western musical technique by an Italian musician attached to the court during the reign of Sultan Murad, and lists the instruments used as kemençe, tanbur (or flefltar), santur, mıskal, ney and ud, together with instruments used in the performance of folk music such as the ça€ana, çö€ür, tanbura, tel tanburası and çeflde.
The most important source material for a study of Ottoman music at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th is to be found in the book written by the historian and composer Prince Kantemiro€lu of Moldovia. After referring to the much greater vitality and maturity with which Ottoman music during the reign of Sultan Mehmed was endowed as a result of the efforts of Osman Efendi, a member of a noble Istanbul family, Prince Kantemiro€lu gives the names of distinguished musicians in the court circles. He also refers to the saray başkesedar (Head Keeper of the Royal Purse) Davul Ismail Efendi and the haznedar (treasurer) Latif Çelebi as being lovers of music with those encouragement he had written his book on the theory of Ottoman music, and states that the Ottoman sultans, who, in the earlier years of the empire, had been engaged for most of their time in continuous warfare, were now able to devote themselves to music and the fine arts.