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"The appeal of this particular music to Western
audiences lies in its vitality and in the free expression of the musician
at the moment of improvisation."
Nikoforos Metaxas
Hace Abdülkadir Meragi (1350?-1435)
Meragi is one of the early period Ottoman composers and
musicologist who share the appellation "master of the masters".
After Safiyuddin Urmevi, Meragi is the author of some of the most significant
books on music and science from this period. He was born in Meragha, which
is now in Iran's Azerbaijan. He became well known as a composer, singer
and lute player at a very young age. He studied with famous scientists
and artists of the times, one of whom was his own father, Giyasettin Gaybi,
a famous scholar and musician. Later he studied music, literature and
calligraphy. He showed a great talent in calligraphy, poetry and illustrating
manuscripts. Meragi was considered to be the greatest composer of the
age in the Islamic world. He was a prolific composer, but only forty of
his works have survived until today, most of which are claimed to be the
works of other composers who imitated Meragi's style.
In 1377, Meragi won a composition competition, organized
by Hace Raziyeddin Ridvanshah. Meragi was invited to this competition
by Ridvanshah himself, who was a theorist of music. For his victory, he
was awarded 1000 dinars and was accepted into the palace. When Timur captured
Bagdad in 1393, he took many scholars and artists, including Meragi, to
Samarkand. There Meragi was the head musician at Timurlenk (Tamberlane)
court. When claims were made that scholars and artists contributed to
his son's moral demise, Timurlenk punished all of them including Meragi.
But Meragi was able to convince Timur to forgive him. After that he was
under the protection of Timur and the following rulers. Later on he was
at Heart until the end of his life, at Shabrub's court where he was shown
great respect. Meragi died of the plague in 1435.
Buhurizade Mustafa Efendi
(Itri) (1640?-1712?)
Itri is a Turkish composer, poet and calligrapher. It
has been speculated that Itri was born between 1630 and 1640, based on
his own writings, and the poets whose works he used in his musical compositions.
It is apparent that he was well-educated and that his studies were wide-spread.
One of the most significant music teachers of Itri was Hafiz Post. Itri
became a mevlevi by joining Sheik Cami Ahmet Dede Efendi's Yenikapi lodge
of Mevlevi dervishes. During the Sultanate of Mehmet IV, he joined fasils
(concerts) in the palace as a hanende (singer). In the meantime, his fame
as a composer spread. He was offered presents and patronage by the sultans
and their court who loved and admired Itri's music. Itri died in Istanbul
in 1711 or 1712. His gravesite is unknown.
Itri came into contact with musicians from other countries
during his work, and after many years of teaching at Enderun (palace school),
he retired from his palace duties around 1690. His life after retirement
remains a mystery.
Mustafa Efendi was a well-known poet from this period
as well, who used Itri as his pen name. Itri was also a grower of fruits
and flowers and was credited with the cultivation of mustabey pears, the
reason he was given the name of Itri, a grower of plants. His poetry includes
work in the divan (palace literature) tradition as well as saz (folk)
tradition.
He learned the art of calligraphy from Siyahi Ahmet Efendi
and was especially successful with talik calligraphy (Persian style of
writing). Examples of his calligraphy can be seen in Hafiz Post's Güfte
Mecmuasi (Magazine of Lyrics).
In chronological terms, Itri is perhaps the second most
important composer after Meragi. Even though it is speculated that he
composed more than one thousand works, today we have a mere forty of them.
His compositions were diverse, including religious and Mevlevi music,
as well as instrumental and secular music.
Anatolia Ensemble
Anatolia reflects the changing work and musical outlook
of Ihsan Özgen.
The varieties of musical genres which combine under the aegis of the ensemble,
incorporating influences both eastern and western, have worked a powerful
influence on its members. Different musical genres, which came into existence
and grew in Anatolia, are the basis of Anatolia Ensemble. It was influenced
by the fact that people who have migrated from Central Asia have combined
their own pentatonic music with that from Iran, various Arabic countries,
the Byzantine tradition, the Balkans, the Aegean and the Mediterranean,
which has resulted in new genres. How does Anatolia make use of this rich
material? By introducing a new expression; by championing a modern polyphonic
approach; and within its unique performance style, where a dynamic profundity
and improvisational bravado are taken up as two important aims of the
group. New sounds are being formed as well as the working of rhythmic
and melodic changes in the rearranging process of anonymous works or of
works composed earlier.
Sometimes, when a particular instrument is in the foreground,
the others are used to enrich the melody, using vertical and horizontal
pedals. The human voice is considered to be yet another musical instrument
in the group. Taksims are solo improvisations performed on an instrument
or with the human voice. Percussion instruments are used like other instruments,
a use which lies outside the Turkish classical music tradition, to contribute
to the melody creation.
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