The rise of a spontaneous synthesis

The historical background of Turkish popular music

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8067321
AutoresOrhan Tekelioğlu (autor de correspondencia)
Año1996
Volumen32
Número2
Páginas194-215
Fecha de publicación1996-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMiddle Eastern Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-3206 • E-ISSN: 1743-7881
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00263209608701111
OpenAlexW2068103787
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas33
Referencias citadas4

of the late Ottoman political elite, in the cultural sphere they refused any alliance with this group.Instead they pressed on, authoritatively, reshaping institutions teaching art and organizing their activities, with the aim of creating a new national elite in the cultural sphere.As policies and institutions were formed in terms of this synthesis for culture and art in general, and for music in particular (the subject of this study), the fledgling nation-state took pains to define its own cultural territory of taboo: the East.Behind the synthesis lay a three-pronged classification: West/Origin/East.It gave the elements with which union was sought (the West and the Origin) while also referring to the territory with which unification was absolutely taboo, the East.It was Ziya Gökalp who pointed to the West as the future of 'our new civilization', but while there was an orientation in this direction, the origin of the synthesis was not forgotten, 'the traditional culture of the Turkish folk'.2The West, far from being a mere geographical description, was considered the domain of modernity and was therefore taken as a model, its putative value measured against an 'East' which was considered as standing for backwardness itself.In particular, from the moment the Republic was founded, music was given pride of place in policies relating to culture and art, a kind of 'target' as leaders sought to fashion a new sort of citizen and a new nation-state.The first indica tion that the political elite was sensitive about music, and keen on westernising reforms in this field, came in 1926 when they closed down the Doğu Müziği Şubesi (Oriental Music Section) in the Dârü' l-Elhan, a residue from late Ottoman days and the only official conservatoire-like institution where music was taught.3As they increasingly gained power, the new elite in music sought to impose quickly their ideas of westernizing reform.In 1934, for example, a ban was placed on the radio broadcasting of Turkish music, even though there is uncertainty as to whether this meant all such music, or only that which was Ottoman in origin.4In an effort to teach the people to enjoy polyphony, elegant light examples of Western music were played not only on the radio, but also in other public areas of life, for example on the vessels of the Turkish Maritime Lines and at government-sponsored ballroom dances.The radio ban on Turkish music lasted only twenty months, after which ever more of this music was broadcast, yet the Turkish Radio and Television (hereafter TRT) succeeded in replacing the ban with a much more comprehensive and enduring system of control, which was in fact, and still is, a censorship surveying both the musical form and textual content of music played on TRT frequencies.Meanwhile, as gifted musicians began to be sent abroad for training and edu cation, a state conservatoire was founded, offering Western-style education and repertories.Orchestras performing polyphonic pieces offered the free of charge public programmes which incorporated easily digested Western classical music.Music classes, also free of charge, were to be had at the Halkevleri (People's Houses

Art · Ethnology · Humanities · Turkish · Diverse Musicological Studies · History · Music Education and Analysis · Music History and Culture · Philosophy