Bezmara
The Splendours of Topkapi
"The
Bezmara ensemble, which specializes in early Ottoman music, was
founded in 1996 together with the launch of a musicological project
designed to revive the performance on early instruments of
compositions to be found in ancient manuscripts which had up to then
neglected by contemporary artists. Fikret Karakaya was able to carry
out this project thanks to the support of the French Institute of
Anatolian Studies and with the help of the American musicologist,
Walter Feldman. Instruments such as the ceng, the sehrud,
the Ottoman Court kopuz, the metal-string kanun, the
pear shaped tanbur and the cheeked ud,
no specimens of which were to be found either in museums or in
private collections, were reconstructed on the basis of miniature
paintings or written sources. Some of these instruments had not been
in use for three or even four centuries. Furthermore, there was no
extant information on how they should be played.
Fikret
Karakaya, who has been performing on the kemence
for Istanbul [Public] Radio since 1982, set about rediscovering the
ancient techniques of performance on the ceng. The famous tanbur
player, Birol Yayla, succeeded from the outset in obtaining an
irreproachable sound on the kopuz;
as these two instruments never co-existed, he is able to play both
the tanbur
and kopuz in the ensemble. The performance style of the
distinguished ney player Senol Filiz made him an ideal
interpreter of these works. Serap Caglayan, who plays the modern kanun,
quickly adapted to the sixteenth-century metal-string kanun,
Kemal Caba, a violinist with Istanbul [Public] Radio since 1982, soon
acquired great technical competence on the kemance.
Osman Kirlikci, a performer on the ud for Istanbul [Public]
Radio, quickly got used to the sehrud. The kanun player
Ihsan Ozer had already performed skills to the early santur.
On the other hand, it was only as the result of considerable effort
that the flautist Tugay Basar was able to master the miskal,
an extremely difficult instrument. Mahinur Ozustun, a performer on
the kemence and also on the daire,
is one of the ensemble's two percussionists. Kamil Bilgin, who plays
the nakkare, quickly assimilated the early rhythmic patterns.
As for the ud player Akgun Col, he experienced no difficulty
at all in playing the sixteenth-century ud.
The
Bezmara ensemble, which performs the works noted down by Dimitrie
Cantemir and which have not been heard for three centuries, gave a
great many concerts in 1998, amongst them being those at the Palais
de France in Istanbul and at the Topkapi Palace." (written by
Fikret Karakaya, translated by John Sidgwick, information from CD's
program notes)
"Splendours
of Topkapi" is an excellent CD which we highly recommend. It
was released by Opus 111, a French label, in 1999. You can find this
CD in some of the on-line distributors, we have links to these
distributors on our "Oud CDs" page. If you would like a
catalog, you can reach Opus 111 by email and mail:
Opus
111
BP
16
75721
Paris, CEDEX 15, France
opus111@compuserve.com
Artists and their recordings in this category:
|
Udi
Yorgo Bacanos: |
Munir
Nurettin Beken: |
|
Cinucen
Tanrikorur: |
Udi
Hrant: |
|
Cinucen
Tanrikorur: |
Udi
Hrant: |
|
Necdet
Yasar Ensemble: |
Udi
Hrant: |
|
Vedad
Gencturk: |
Bezmara: |
|
Necati
Celik: |
|
|
Kudsi
Erguner Ensemble: |
click on the names to see the CDs from that country: