FALL 2004

Osmanlı Musıkisinin Devamı / The Continuation of Ottoman Music

Original compositions for instruments and voices by Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol combining the idioms of Ottoman traditional music with contemporary media and methods. Mehter (Janissary music), sema(Sufi devotional music), and ince saz müziği (instrumental music) are explored producing striking new pieces which carry on and extend their traditional models.

Cumhuriyet Tangoları / Turkish Tangos of the 1930s and 40s

European influences were beginning to be felt throughout the Ottoman Empire during its final days, setting the stage for the tango rage which struck the new Turkish Republic in the late 1920s. The Golden Age of the tango during these decades will be celebrated in this rare performance coinciding with Turkish Republic Day.

Yunan ve Türk Dini Günleri II / Greek and Turkish Holy Days II

On November 22, 2003 the first Greek and Turkish Holy Days concert celebrated two very important Holy Days of Orthodox Christianity and Islam which fell on the same day: The entrance of Mary(Theotokos) into the Temple and the revelation of the Holy Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad. This year, members of the Orthodox and Muslim communities of Boston come together once again to celebrate these Holy days with Sufi and Byzantine music in mutual respect and joy.

Gazeller: The Voices of the East

During the latter days of the Ottoman Empire some of the most popular singers of commercial songs in Turkish were the hafız, individuals especially trained to improvise performances of The Holy Koran in Arabic. It was usually only the hafız who was considered up to the task of singing gazel, the highly prized free-rhythm improvisation on secular love poetry, a practice which has a number of parallels in Arabic and Greek music, as well. This concert will feature a dialogue between Turkish, Arabic and Greek musicians in the improvised love song tradition they share.

SPRING 2004

Cazda Türkiye, Türkiye’de Caz / Turkey in Jazz, Jazz in Turkey

An exploration of the mutual influences of Turkish music and Jazz in the work of a variety of Turkish and American musicians

In the zikir ceremonies of the Turkish sufi orders, repeated musical phrases and texts create a group experience which is both contemplative and ecstatic. In this concert, the Turkish zikir takes its place alongside African-American Gospel music and Haitian vodoun, which also rely on repetitive rhythms, words and melodies to pull us inward and upward.

Hocalarımız ile Sohbetler / Conversations with Our Teachers

A concert in which performers of Turkish classical and folk music pay their respects to their sources. Live performers interact with each other and with recordings of three generations of revered musicians, both the famous and the anonymous.

Ali Ufki’nin Mezmurları / The Psalms of Ali Ufki 

Ali Ufki, born Albert Bobowski in 1610, was a Polish Christian who converted to Islam after his capture by the Ottoman Turks, becoming renowned as a court musician, as a notator of Ottoman classical music, and as a Bible translator. In this concert of sacred music, Ali Ufki’s own settings of the psalms in Ottoman classical style will receive a rare performance.

Arabesk

Arabesk, for forty years the dominant popular music style in Turkey, has continued to absorb into it many strands of the Turkish musical tradition, combining it with contemporary social themes and commercial appeal in a way which still creates controversy.

SPONSORS
Gentle Movers
The Turkish American Cultural Society of New England
The MIT Turkish Student Association
The Graduate and Professional Student Association at NU