The rise of a spontaneous synthesis: The historical background of Turkish popular music

Middle Eastern Studies

Volumn 32, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 194-215

  Tekelioǧlu, Orhan ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0007259894     PISSN: 00263206     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00263209608701111     Document Type: Review

References (41)

1. N. Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey (Montreal: McGill, 1964), and also see Ş. Mardin, 'Religion in Modern Turkey', International Social Science Journal, Vol.23, No.2 (1977), pp.279-97.
2. N. Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey (Montreal: McGill, 1964), and also see Ş. Mardin, 'Religion in Modern Turkey', International Social Science Journal, Vol.23, No.2 (1977), pp.279-97.
3. Z. Gökalp, Türkçülügün Esaslari [Principles of Turkism], (Istanbul: M.E.B. Yayinlari, 1990), p.146.
4. G. Oransay, Atatürk ile Küǧ [Atatürk and Music], (Izmir: Küg Yayini, 1985), p.112.
5. U. Kocabaşoǧlu, Şirket Telsizinden Devlet Radyosuna [From The Company Wireless to State Radio], (Ankara: S.B.F. Yayinlan, 1980), p.82.
6. One should not mix the slum with gecekondu, a single-storey accommodation which has a higher building quality than that of the most slum examples from the third world. Gecekondu means 'put up at night'.
7. Because of the scale and various positions, the definition and the relevant discussions about the concept of discourse are not deliberately given. Related to the concept of discourse applied throughout this piece, one may however refer to the Foucauldian position. In this context, the essay focuses mainly on the inner dynamics of music as discourse and speaks of exdiscursive as the enveloping, overlapping and partly determining yet non-musical discourses.
8. B. Aksoy, 'Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Musiki ve Batililaşma' [Music and Westernization from the Tanzimat to the Republic], Tanzimat Dönemi Türkiye Ansiklopedisi, Vol.5 (Istanbul, İletişjm Yayinlari, 1985), p.1215. The notion in the quote alaturka does not simply signify 'alla turca' (i.e. in the Turkish way) but rather has a degrading connotation, which is a very common tendency among the pro-Westerners in Turkey. For the notion of alafranga (i.e. in the French [Western] way), the reverse connotation could prevail. Interestingly enough, the quote is from a Sultan of post-Tanzimat era. In the quote, there is also a reference to the Turkish instrument saz which is the most common instrument used in folks songs, and simply is long-necked fretted lute.
9. Hikmet Şimşek, for example, who for years has conducted the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, began his career in the Turkish Army Band.
10. In 1847, for example, Franz Liszt paid a visit to the Ottoman Palace, where he performed.
11. The Palace Symphony Orchestra, whose repertoire on the European tour included Beethoven's Violin Concerto, was conducted by Osman Zeki Üngör, who in early Republican years would compose the music to the Turkish National Anthem.
12. The gazino is a restaurant, operating at night where musical entertainment is offered, particularly by singers, and where meals are usually accompanied by the favorite alcoholic beverage, raki. An alternative place to gazino entertainment is pavyon, offering cheaper entertainment and catering only for men.
13. T.Z. Tunaya, Devrim Hareketleri İçinde Atatürk ve Atatürkçülük [Atatürk and Kemalism in the Context of Revolutionary Movements], (Istanbul, 1964), pp. 120-21.
14. Z. Gökalp, Türkçülügun Esaslari [Principles of Turkism], (Istanbul: M.E.B. Yayinlari, 1990), p.145.
15. Ibid., pp.146-7.
16. M. Belge et al., Atatürk Devrimleri Ideolojisinin Türk Müzik Kültüriüne Doǧrudan ve Dolayli Etkileri [Direct and Indirect Impact of the Ideology of Atatürk's Reforms on the Turkish Musical Culture], (Istanbul: Bogaziçi Üniversitesi Türk Müziǧi Klubü Yayinlari, 1980), p.34 and p.48.
17. T.Z. Tunaya, Devrim Hareketleri İçinde Atatürk ve Atatürkçülük, p.41.
18. G. Oransay, Atatürk ile Küg [Atatürk and Music], (Izmir: Küg Yayini, 1985), p.24.
19. Dârü' l-Elhan, a compound word meaning literally 'House of Tunes', was the first school of music in the modern sense and was founded in 1917 as an extension of the Istanbul City Theatre.
20. C. Behar, Klasik Türk Musikisi Üzerine Denemeler [Essays on Classical Turkish Music], (Istanbul: Baglam Yayinlari, 1987), p.138.
21. G. Oransay, Atatürk ile Küg, p.24.
22. Ibid., p.26.
23. Ibid., p.32.
24. The item is as follows: Ankara (A.A.) - The Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that today in the Grand National Assembly, inspired by the illuminating statements of the Gazi (Mustafa Kemal) per alaturka music, such music will be completely removed from the airwaves as of tonight, with performance there to be entirely in the hands of artists having mastered Western technique. G. Oransay, Atatürk ile Küǧ. p.49.
25. U. Kocabaşoǧlu, Şirket Telsizinden Devlet Radyosuna, p.55.
26. Z. Livaneli, 'Yunus Emre'den Ferdi Tayfur'a' [From Yunus Emre to Ferdi Tayfur], Cumhuriyet (15 Feb. 1980).
27. The Alevi 'minstrel' tradition was much less damaged by TRT's practices in collecting and notation, and indeed has survived to the present day. This may be connected to the fact that the Turkish Republic is a secular state, and that this is reflected in its policies toward religion.
28. M. Stokes, The Arabesk Debate. Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.93, and also see, N. Güngör, Arabesk. Sosyokültürel Açidan Arabesk Müzik [Arabesk. A Sociocultural View at Arabesk Music], (Ankara: Bilgi Yayinlari, 1990), p.55.
29. M. Stokes, The Arabesk Debate. Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.93, and also see, N. Güngör, Arabesk. Sosyokültürel Açidan Arabesk Müzik [Arabesk. A Sociocultural View at Arabesk Music], (Ankara: Bilgi Yayinlari, 1990), p.55.
30. M. Heper, The State Tradition in Turkey (Beverley: Eothen Press, 1985).
31. During the 1930s, when musical reforms were most outrageous, the musical elite had a number of names for CTAM like 'Monophonic City Music', 'Byzantian Action', 'Music of Ottoman Palace', 'Music of Drinking House', all intended to disparage it.
32. M. Özbek, Popüler Kültür ve Orhan Gencebay Arabeski [Popular Culture and Orhan Gencebay's Arabesk], (Istanbul: İletişim Yayinlari, 1991), p.154.
33. Another important composer in the period of adapted music was Hafiz Burhanettin, who also had a background in tekke music. He composed Turkish adaptations for 'The Tears of Love' (Damü'al-hubb), a film starring the Egyptian singer Abdulvahhab which gained immediate popularity when it was first shown in 1938, and these songs continued to be sung for years afterwards.
34. N. Karakayali stresses the seriousness of the effort to popularize this kind of music. N. Karakayali, 'Doǧarken Ölen: Hafif Müzik Ortaminda Ciddi Bir Proje Olarak Arabesk' [Stillborn: Arabesk as a Serious Project in the Context of Light Music], Toplum ve Bilim, No.67 (1995).
35. Zeki Müren, with his invention of T-shaped stage on which the contact between the artist and the audience first became possible, and extravagant costumes, is one of the most colourful TAM stars. Interestingly enough, it was Zennube, a record directly adapted from an Arab film which first catapulted him to fame. For a more detailed analysis see M. Nakip, 'Arabesk Musikiye Dair' [On Arabesk Music], Töre, No.159 (1984), p.45.
36. Many films, particularly in the 1960s, took their titles and even their plots from popular songs of the day.
37. M. Belge, 'Orhan Gencebay ile Görüşme' [An Interview with Orhan Gencebay], Yeni Gündem, No.14 (January 1985).
38. 'Anatolian Pop' is a delayed popular musical project of West-East synthesis. If the musical elite in the early years of the Republic had placed any importance on popular forms backing their cultural policies, perhaps they would not have failed so severely.
39. In a country where TRT had a monopoly on broadcasting, the only radio channel to defy the ban on Arabesk was another state-owned radio station, the Police Radio, which transmitted via short wave and thus could be heard in every sector of the country. The question as to why TRT could not interfere with this broadcasting deserves study.
40. E. Said, Orientalism (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978).
41. M. Belge et al., Atatürk Devrimleri, p.22.