TURKEY (TÜRKIYE) En Passant par la Turquie – Musique d'Anatolie Centrale, Ricordi 25 S029

TURKEY (TÜRKIYE)
En Passant par la Turquie – Musique d'Anatolie Centrale, Ricordi 25 S029, recorded by Bernard Mauguin and Charles Accary in 1960, released in 1962 (10 in, 33 RPM)

These little-known tracks from 1960 were recorded by Bernard Mauguin and Charles Accary in Central Anatolia, in an area located about 250 km south and southeast of Ankara, between Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş, Adana, and Konya. This compelling panorama includes music to accompany dances (A1, B6), a shepherd’s song (A5), a love song (A3), a farmer’s song (A7) a call to prayer (B1), a dervish song (B3), instrumental solos (B2, B4) and a bandit’s song (B5). It features vocals (A2, A3, A5, A7, B1, B3, B5, B6), a zurna oboe (A1), a davul drum (A1) ud lutes (A2, B2), saz lutes (A2, A5, B4, B6), a kemence violin (A4), a kaval six-hole flute (A6) and wooden spoons (B6).

 

Ces morceaux peu connus datant de 1960 ont été enregistrés par Bernard Mauguin et Charles Accary dans une région d’Anatolie centrale, située à environ 250 km au sud et au sud-est d'Ankara, entre Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş, Adana et Konya. Cet excellent panorama comprend des musiques d’accompagnement de danses (A1, B6), une chanson de berger (A5), une chanson d'amour (A3), un chant de paysan (A7), un appel à la prière (B1), une chanson de derviche (B3), des solos instrumentaux (B2, B4) et une chanson de bandit (B5). On y trouve des voix (A2, A3, A5, A7, B1, B3, B5, B6), un hautbois zurna (A1), un tambours davul (A1), des luths oud (A2, B2), des luths saz (A2, A5, B4, B6), un violon kemençe (A4), une flûte kaval à six trous (A6) et des cuillères en bois (B6).

A1 – Dance and Recitative; 

Accompanied by a quirky double-reed zurna oboe, played with circular breathing, and a double-headed davul drum; 
Village of Pazarviran Kögü.

 

A2 – Vocals accompanied by an ud lute and two long-necked saz lutes; 

City of Konya.

A3 – Female lullaby-like love song; 
Kahramanmaraş region.

 

A4 – Las; 

Kemence violin by an itinerant Romani musician;
Kahramanmaraş region.

 

A5 – Cenci Abdal; 

Vocals and saz lute; 
Turkish popular music draws from a rich tradition of mystical songs written by poet-musicians connected to the dervishes of the Bektashi Order. These deeply philosophical songs have profound lyrics. For example, Genci Abdal wrote, "The treasure of truth will no longer be found again for a very long time." 
Village of Sariz. 

 

A6 – Anatolian shepherd's music; 

Kaval six-hole flute; 
Afyon region.

 

A7 – Farmer’s song;
The poem centers on a well-known Turkish saying: "When one has promised, one must keep." The singer performs in a recitative style, a technique common in songs influenced by Bektashi Sufism;
Sariz region.

B1 – Call to prayer; 
The Turkish call to prayer is instantly recognizable for its fervent, pure singing. This style contrasts with the elaborate flourishes of Persian music and the vocal techniques used in Arabic traditions;
Village of Ortahisar.

 

B2 – Taksim. On the six-string ud lute; 
City of Konya.

 

B3 – Nefe (a traditional Dervish song); 
Some Dervish orders practice spiritual exercises involving esoteric breathing techniques and singing. Here, a dervish sheik performs a nefes, a type of Sufi poetry, by the folk poet and Sufi mystic Yunus Emre (1238-1320).

 

B4 – Saz solo;
Village of Sariz.

B5 – Bandit’s song; 
A Destan narrative ballad about a bandit who laments his unavoidable fate: "This is destiny. Don't cry, my mother;" 
Gôgsün region.

 

B6 – Spoon dance; 
The "Spoon Dance," accompanied by two saz lutes and wooden castanet-like spoons, is a popular folk dance from Central Anatolia; 
City of Konya.

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My other Turkish music posts:
Nuit Précieuse au Sérail – ARION here
Rythmes et Mélodies de Turquie here
Musique de Turquie – ALFA 5018 here
Orient-Okzident – Musik Aus Südost-Europa here
Musiques d'Orient – Les Mariés du Bout du Monde here

Gazeller I – Ottoman-Turkish Vocal Improvisations here
Gazeller II – Ottoman-Turkish Vocal Improvisations here
Flûtes Orientales Sacrées des Derviches Tourneurs here
HZ. Mevlâna (Ks) – Instrumental Dervish Music – Ney Tâksimleri here
Musique du Moyen Orient – Les Derviches Tourneurs – Bam here

For millennia, Anatolia–also known as Asia Minor–has been a crossroads of civilizations, long before the great Ottoman and Byzantine empires. From the Bronze Age Hittite Empire (c. 1650–1200 BCE) in central Anatolia to the later arrivals of the Phrygians, Greeks, and Romans, Anatolia has seen a succession of empires and kingdoms rise and fall.

Seated goddess with a child, gold, Hittite Empire, Central Anatolia 

c. 14th–13th century BCE:

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s online collection (www.metmuseum.org):

Statue of Artemis of Ephesus, Selçuk Museum, near the Ancient Greek city of İzmir, 1st century

From Creative Commons:

This Roman copy of the Greek deity is a syncretism of the Greek goddess Artemis and the ancient Anatolian Phrygian mother goddess of fertility, Cybele. Cybele was a native deity worshiped in the region before the arrival of the Greeks. The statue is often called Artemis Polymastos, or "many-breasted Artemis," due to the many protuberances covering her chest.

Oceanus, Thetys and dragon Cetos, Ancient Rome, 2nd or 3rd century

Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep:

From Creative Commons

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