Tweet
Turkish Music
Music of Turkey
Turkey is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is a crossroads of cultures from across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and South and Central Asia. The music of Turkey includes elements of Central Asian folk music, Arabic, Persian classical music, ancient Greco-Roman music and modern European and American popular music.
Modern history
The traditional music of Turkey is composed of two major traditions with distinct characteristics. The first one is Turkish folk music, characterized by the culture of Turkish-speaking rural communities of Anatolia, Balkans, and Middle East. While Turkish folk music contains some traces of the Central Asian Turkic cultures, it has also strongly influenced and been influenced by many other cultures in the region. The second one, on the other hand, is Turkish classical music, which is characterized by the culture of Ottoman elite and strongly influenced by Islamic (mainly Arabic and Persian) cultures, a trace of Indian Music, but still contains traces of the Greco-Roman history of the region.
During the Ottoman era, Turkish classical music was known to be the authentic music of Turkey. Folk music was being oppressed from time to time and region to region, because of several reasons including religious intolerance. When the modern Turkish state was proclaimed in 1923, the new republic aimed at creating a nation with a distinct and unified culture. This included replacing the culture of elite Istanbul, which was considered Ottoman, by the culture of rural Anatolia, which was considered Turkish. Hence, folk music was promoted, while classical music faced some restrictions. Moreover, western classical music was introduced and encouraged as one of the most important policies of the new state was westernization of the society.
By the 1960s, western popular music had been introduced to Turkey, with the name "western music with Turkish words", which literally was true. At the same time, socialist movements were getting popular in accordance with the world. Musicians who were inspired by these movements started adapting folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements, giving rise to Anatolian rock and protest music.
Starting in 1970s, increasing immigration from rural areas to big cities (particularly Istanbul) gave rise to a new cultural synthesis, which is regarded to be a degeneration by some sociologists. The new residents of metropolitan areas were mostly suffering from hard economical conditions and having difficulties in adapting to the big city. This newly constructed culture generated its own music, Arabesk, known to be the music of suffering. Arabesk was a synthesis of Turkish folk and middle-eastern music. Following the military coup of 1980, the suffering left-wing subculture also found its own arabesk, in a new degenerated version of protest music, named ozgun muzik. In the era influenced by the military government, arabesk and ozgun muzik were labeled "degenerate" and discouraged by the government, while Turkish classical music was promoted.
Arabic music, for a brief time was banned from Turkey, as for it to create its own identity, despite being heavily intertwined. In a similar move, Indian Music was banned from Turkey, since Hindi, the language sung in, despite having similar Turkish words, also possessed many Arabic loan words, and at a time when the country was trying to create its own identity, Indian Music was also downplayed alongside Arabic music.
Western-style pop music could only become popular by the beginning of 1990s, as a result of opening economy and society, and still dominates the popular culture. The increasing popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan. Note that Turkish pop is still strongly influenced by Arabesk, Turkish folk and middle-eastern music.
Turkish folk, which has been popular from time to time, again came into public attention by the end of 1990s. It now has a broader popularity regardless of subcultures. Moreover, the folk music of several ethnic cultures such as Kurdish and Laz, which were not able to express themselves openly due to language restrictions, are rediscovered and gain popularity following the recent democratization attempts.
Turkey is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is a crossroads of cultures from across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and South and Central Asia. The music of Turkey includes elements of Central Asian folk music, Arabic, Persian classical music, ancient Greco-Roman music and modern European and American popular music.
Modern history
The traditional music of Turkey is composed of two major traditions with distinct characteristics. The first one is Turkish folk music, characterized by the culture of Turkish-speaking rural communities of Anatolia, Balkans, and Middle East. While Turkish folk music contains some traces of the Central Asian Turkic cultures, it has also strongly influenced and been influenced by many other cultures in the region. The second one, on the other hand, is Turkish classical music, which is characterized by the culture of Ottoman elite and strongly influenced by Islamic (mainly Arabic and Persian) cultures, a trace of Indian Music, but still contains traces of the Greco-Roman history of the region.
During the Ottoman era, Turkish classical music was known to be the authentic music of Turkey. Folk music was being oppressed from time to time and region to region, because of several reasons including religious intolerance. When the modern Turkish state was proclaimed in 1923, the new republic aimed at creating a nation with a distinct and unified culture. This included replacing the culture of elite Istanbul, which was considered Ottoman, by the culture of rural Anatolia, which was considered Turkish. Hence, folk music was promoted, while classical music faced some restrictions. Moreover, western classical music was introduced and encouraged as one of the most important policies of the new state was westernization of the society.
By the 1960s, western popular music had been introduced to Turkey, with the name "western music with Turkish words", which literally was true. At the same time, socialist movements were getting popular in accordance with the world. Musicians who were inspired by these movements started adapting folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements, giving rise to Anatolian rock and protest music.
Starting in 1970s, increasing immigration from rural areas to big cities (particularly Istanbul) gave rise to a new cultural synthesis, which is regarded to be a degeneration by some sociologists. The new residents of metropolitan areas were mostly suffering from hard economical conditions and having difficulties in adapting to the big city. This newly constructed culture generated its own music, Arabesk, known to be the music of suffering. Arabesk was a synthesis of Turkish folk and middle-eastern music. Following the military coup of 1980, the suffering left-wing subculture also found its own arabesk, in a new degenerated version of protest music, named ozgun muzik. In the era influenced by the military government, arabesk and ozgun muzik were labeled "degenerate" and discouraged by the government, while Turkish classical music was promoted.
Arabic music, for a brief time was banned from Turkey, as for it to create its own identity, despite being heavily intertwined. In a similar move, Indian Music was banned from Turkey, since Hindi, the language sung in, despite having similar Turkish words, also possessed many Arabic loan words, and at a time when the country was trying to create its own identity, Indian Music was also downplayed alongside Arabic music.
Western-style pop music could only become popular by the beginning of 1990s, as a result of opening economy and society, and still dominates the popular culture. The increasing popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan. Note that Turkish pop is still strongly influenced by Arabesk, Turkish folk and middle-eastern music.
Turkish folk, which has been popular from time to time, again came into public attention by the end of 1990s. It now has a broader popularity regardless of subcultures. Moreover, the folk music of several ethnic cultures such as Kurdish and Laz, which were not able to express themselves openly due to language restrictions, are rediscovered and gain popularity following the recent democratization attempts.
Comment