A harmonious journey to old Istanbul
You may have come across TRT İzmir Radio voice Çağlar Fidan on social media. Fidan, who graduated from Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory, Department of Voice Education and plays the qanun, is 28 years old. In his youth, he sings old Istanbul music in posts; It shares daily usage and daily information on products and their stories. ‘Ottoman-Turkish’ is spoken if it is made in a ‘coffee house in Ottoman Istanbul’.
* What type of genre are you making?
We can call it an ‘Ottoman-Turkish movie’. The ‘Turkish’ design in this naming references the language of the show. Because at that time he lived in a place belonging to the Armenian, Greek and Jewish communities. III. It was as if Selim’s tanbur chief, Izak Efendi, was a Jew from Ortaköy.
* In which center is this type carried out?
There are rumors that Cem Behar, who works on music, will not be in Istanbul on the 16th-17th. More musical performances appear before it. Because they bring their own culture, who came to Istanbul on expeditions to Iran.
* The composers of this music?
Among the composers there are stonemasons, potters, governors and even freedmen. What a dream that is intertwined with life. In the words of the works, Divan poetry was used before the 19th. It then emerges for the life-oriented.
* Is there an example?
They were items for use in social media projects, especially during the winter period. There were words like this in one work: “My dear, tell me now / Who was it that came to you in the evening? / It was secluded without a lantern / It was three o’clock on the line.” Very valuable information… Examples of 19th information are very rich.
* Well, how will their meeting with music be?
Prince circumcisions, weddings in public, and music-related advertisements. We often see their depictions in the Surnames. Especially Anatolian music was considered in coffee houses. Equipping the mansion on the 19th Bosphorus was moonlight entertainment. The richest person in the region kept a saz in the summer. In a rowboat, the borers would rule their inhabitants, and the Bosphorus would follow them. The taverns were also an important area of music performance and socialization.
* Are there enough resources on music history?
Until the 19th century, there is no use of notes in this music. Music files have been transferred to the system. In other words, the teacher made the work memorized by reading it over and over again. The ‘work with notes’ for the essays of 17-18th contestants Ali Ufki and Dimitri Kantemir did not become widespread.
* What is the age of your audience?
There is such a young audience that I am very surprised. Actually, history and theory… It’s good to start with my course, but with my interest in history, I don’t turn to this music.
“In Osman, the circumcisions and weddings of the princes were open, and your ring was celebrated with music,” says Çağlar Fidan.