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Besktekâr III. Selim Hân/Composer Sultan Selim Khan III by Ayangil Tϋrk Mϋziği Orkestra ve Korosu Solistleri

2016; Volume: 48; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/amu.2017.0012

1553-5630

Leslie Hall,

Turkish Literature and Culture

Reviewed by: Besktekâr III. Selim Hân/Composer Sultan Selim Khan III by Ayangil Tϋrk Mϋziği Orkestra ve Korosu Solistleri Leslie R. Hall (bio) Besktekâr III. Selim Hân/Composer Sultan Selim Khan III. Ayangil Tϋrk Mϋziği Orkestra ve Korosu Solistleri. Soloists of the Ayangil Turkish Music Orchestra and Chorus. Bϋyϋkşehir Belediyesi, Istanbul: Kϋltϋr ve Sanat Ürϋnleri, 2008. Two CDs (51 minutes, 36 seconds, and 44 minutes, 30 seconds, respectively), 35pages of Turkish and English notes, photos, Turkish or Persian texts. This exceptional CD set honors the two-hundredth anniversary of the death of Sultan Selim III in 1808. Homage to Ottoman arts is evident in the meticulous attention to detail in both the visual design and the subtlety of the performances. Selim III (1761–1808), who reigned for 17 years, was a political reformer, Mevlevi Sufi, composer, and poet who studied music with the [End Page 139] sultan’s chief müezzin (reciter of the call to prayer) and tanbur (long-necked plucked lute) with synagogue cantor Tanburi Izak. Although he received a palace education, he spent some of his youth in confinement in the palace kafes (literally, cage), an Ottoman tradition that attempted to prevent brothers of the sultan from engaging in political intrigues. However, he established a secret correspondence with the French court and admired European culture. After ascending the throne in 1789, Selim III set up a council for government reforms, proposed establishing a new military corps, and brought in European instructors for a variety of projects. His interest in European music led him to invite a Western opera troupe to the palace, which sparked an interest in Western musical elements such as 3/4 time signatures and “major”-sounding makams (melodic modes). He composed both sacred and secular Ottoman music, wrote poetry under the pen name İlhami (literally, inspiration), commissioned a notation system, and wrote a complete cycle of music for the Mevlevi ceremony (Hall 1989). Dethroned in 1807 by the janissaries, the Ottoman military corps that objected to his reforms, he was murdered in 1808, likely in retaliation for his attempted reinstatement. This recording marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of music director, scholar, and performer Ruhi Ayangil’s eponymous ensemble. Unlike many performances of Ottoman music, which have large choruses and numerous Western instruments, this recording has a small group of singers and no Western instruments; thus, it more closely reflects early nineteenth-century Ottoman performance practice. The unique, delicate timbres of the instruments, including tanbur, ud (short-necked plucked lute), kanun (plucked zither), kemençe (bowed lute), ney (bamboo flute), kudϋm (small kettle drums), and frame drums, have been expertly recorded. The two CDs contain 13 composed vocal works and two composed instrumental works all composed by Selim III in ten makams as well as six taksims (improvisations). The liner notes provide information on the makam and usul (melodic and rhythmic modes), poetic and musical genres, Turkish or Persian texts, the poets, and brief biographies of the sultan and the performers. Covering all of the major Ottoman secular genres, the CDs are organized loosely by genre and makam, with the first CD containing more serious genres and the second, lighter works. CD 1 opens with a profound ney taksim by Ali Tϋfekçi, who beautifully articulates the subtle nuances and pitches of the Sabâ tetrachord (A, B one comma flat, C, D four commas flat). The Şevkutarab kâr, which follows, is a complex vocal work with a Persian text, a refrain, and a rhythmic cycle of 32/2 that is clearly articulated by the kudϋm.1 The poet Şeyh Galib was a friend of Selim III and fellow Mevlevi. This complex [End Page 140] work, which is more than 14 minutes long, is sensitively performed by the entire ensemble. A delicate tanbur taksim by Fatih Ovalı modulates to Pesendide, created by Selim III, which has a lowered third (B one comma flat) and raised seventh (F sharp). All three composed works here contain the Nişabur tetrachord (B natural, C sharp, D, E), a characteristic of this makam. The instrumental peşrev in the usul...