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Great Performances - Season 53 Episode 15 - Now Hear This – “The Call Of Istanbul
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00:05up next on great performances i'm scott you join me and my wife alice dade in istanbul
00:15it's a place we've wanted to visit for years that's one of my favorites actually
00:21i love this i wanted to find out why the city sounds like no other i mean this is
00:28insanely fast they don't like electricity you know this is such a unique place but we would
00:36experience so much more the art
00:48wow oh hot the food you like it it's good i don't like it so much
00:57the traditions
01:03and an astonishing variety of music
01:09to reveal a culture that has shaped western music it really became a fashion
01:14in hayden and mozart and onwards as much as we have shaped it coming up on now hear this the
01:22call of
01:23istanbul
01:28major funding for great performances is provided by
01:36and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you thank you
01:49i come to istanbul at last for two reasons to see my friend fasal sai turkey's most celebrated pianist and
01:58composer and to try to figure out its music
02:05the city spreads across both sides of the bosphorus half european half asian and sounds like no other
02:14i wanted to know why
02:16is
02:38Istanbul has long been a bridge between continents, a crossroads of many cultures.
02:43I suspected that shaped its music.
03:14Then, when Turkish armies invaded Europe,
03:17Istanbul shaped the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
03:36Today, we know Turkey as a Muslim country, but that's a cultural crossroads too, because
03:43for centuries before that, Istanbul was Christian.
03:49My wife Alice and I went to the Karie Mosque, which was originally a Byzantine church, with
03:55Turkish conductor Cem Mansur.
03:58This looks very, very old.
04:01Only from the end of the 5th century AD.
04:05So, the oldest parts of this building, the lowest layers, are 1600 years old.
04:11Yes.
04:11Wow.
04:12That's crazy.
04:13That is crazy.
04:13That's incredible.
04:14So, before Istanbul was Istanbul, the city was known with different names.
04:18And it was founded by a Greek maritime character called Byzes.
04:22And we therefore call that early part of the city's history Byzantium.
04:27But it's really the Emperor Constantine, as the Emperor of Rome, who decided to move his
04:32capital from Rome to this place which he called Constantinople after himself.
04:39Very modest.
04:41And the interesting thing is, with the Ottoman conquest in 1453, the city became known as
04:49Constantinie.
04:50So, it was really a Turkish way of saying the city of Constantine.
04:54So, 1453 is actually kind of recent history for this city.
04:59Absolutely.
05:00And like a lot of these buildings, with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, it was
05:04converted into a mosque and remained a mosque for the next 600 years or so.
05:10And with the Republic, it became a museum.
05:12Now, it's no longer a museum.
05:13That's even more complicated.
05:15What is it now?
05:16Yes.
05:17Well, it's back to being a mosque and a museum at the same time.
05:20Okay.
05:21One of the most spectacular things about this building is the mosaics inside.
05:25Shall we go and have a look?
05:25Yes, please.
05:26Love to.
05:26You lead the way.
05:27This way.
05:35Alice found this old Byzantine hymn written by a priest, set to music by a monk.
05:49That's one of my favorites, actually.
05:52This is the emperor, you see, the Byzantine emperor giving the churches a present to Christ.
05:57Beautiful.
06:09How old are these?
06:11The mosaics, as far as we can tell, date to the 12th century.
06:17These are incredibly advanced for the 1100s?
06:22Even something that may be interpreted as the art of perspective before its time.
06:28Can you imagine how much more work there is?
06:32Wow.
06:49What I find really fascinating in this place is to observe how Islamic architecture of mosques
06:55was actually influenced by buildings like this.
06:58The repeating arches, the many domes.
07:01So one of the secret superpowers of Turks is that they kind of successfully absorbed everything that came before them.
07:10It was clear the city's arts were at a very high level when it was Constantinople.
07:15And much of that transferred to Istanbul.
07:19But the Turkish art form most visitors know today is the carpet.
07:24In the courtyards off Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, we went to see Aziz Oskar, a dealer of textiles from Central Asia.
07:32This is the Kyrgyz.
07:34Ooh.
07:35Brodery.
07:36This is from Kyrgyzstan.
07:37Kyrgyzstan.
07:38Mirror cover.
07:39A mirror cover.
07:40Okay.
07:41This is also from Kyrgyzstan.
07:42Oh, same.
07:43Yes.
07:43This is more older one.
07:45You can tell the similarities with the pattern.
07:48That's really nice.
07:50This is Congrat.
07:51Congrat is the same.
07:53Like mirror cover.
07:54And this is from where?
07:56This is from Uzbekistan.
07:57Uzbekistan.
07:58Yeah.
07:58Congrat.
07:59But still really detailed.
08:02For salt bag.
08:04Salt bag?
08:05Hanging wall in the kitchen.
08:08Putting...
08:09Some people put the spoon, something.
08:10I saw many times putting the salt inside.
08:14Okay.
08:15And where was that one made?
08:17This is the same Kyrgyz.
08:18Oh, Kyrgyzstan.
08:19Let me see the first one.
08:20And one other Kyrgyz.
08:22This is for bread.
08:23For bread.
08:23Putting the bread inside.
08:25Hanging walls.
08:25You see here?
08:26Hanging envelope for bread.
08:29Everyone's dream.
08:31This one Tajik.
08:32Tajikistan.
08:33Burka.
08:34It's a burka.
08:34Burka, yes.
08:35Okay.
08:36So you wear this.
08:37Okay.
08:38Like this.
08:39Wow.
08:40How long did it take?
08:42I mean, days to make this?
08:44So much days.
08:45Look at that.
08:46Wow.
08:48It's a woman's dress.
08:49Mm-hmm.
08:50You want to try?
08:51Oh.
08:52Sure.
08:53Uzbekistan, Bukhara.
08:54Uzbekistan.
08:55Long Bukhara.
08:58I love this.
09:00I would wear this.
09:01How old is this?
09:03Like nearly 120, 110 years old.
09:06I mean, this is timeless.
09:07It's just beautiful.
09:08Tajik Ikat.
09:10Oh.
09:10Okay.
09:11This is from Tajikistan.
09:12Yeah, I would wear both of these.
09:14Yeah.
09:15It's beautiful.
09:16I want to keep it.
09:19It's beautiful.
09:23So this is almost a museum-quality piece?
09:26Museum-quality, yeah, all pieces.
09:27Yeah, if you want, try one more.
09:29Sure.
09:29This actually, women use it like this.
09:33I'm sure.
09:34Like this.
09:34Is this to enter a mosque?
09:37No.
09:37This woman go to the street, use it like this.
09:40How old is this?
09:42150 possible, I can say this one.
09:45So these...
09:46Turkmenistan.
09:48This is from here.
09:49Yes.
09:50The burqa was from Tajikistan here.
09:51Tajikistan, yes.
09:52And this one is from Uzbekistan.
09:54Yes.
09:54So it's this area.
09:56These people have an unbelievable embroidery.
10:00And so you can be here and buy embroidery from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan.
10:07It doesn't matter because everything comes here.
10:09This is kind of the crossroads.
10:10Here, more easy you find.
10:12Mm-hmm.
10:13Last year I go, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan.
10:16Mm-hmm.
10:16I find only two things.
10:18Really?
10:18Yes.
10:18It's easier to find stuff from Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan here than there.
10:25Yes.
10:26So all of these countries, they speak sort of a Turkish language.
10:31Yes.
10:31They're Turkic people.
10:32All Turkish language.
10:34Can they understand one another?
10:35Like we understand 40%, 50% we understand each other.
10:39So the Turkic people, the people who speak this Turkic language, they came from here.
10:45Yes.
10:45So I guess they traveled through northern Iran.
10:47Iran, coming to Iran.
10:49After Iran, Hazara, coming to Eastern Turkey, coming to Anatolia.
10:54So where exactly on the map is Anatolia?
10:58Is it...
10:58Center is here, near Cappadocia, Ankara.
11:02Anatolia here.
11:03Okay.
11:04So the Turks that gave this country its name actually came from Central Asia, bringing their
11:10textiles and their music with them.
11:12We went to see Koşkun Karademir and Ayfer Vardar, two amazing Anatolian folk musicians.
11:20Mr. wizards of the country.
11:21But you have프 to see Koşkun Karademir and Ayfer Vardar,
11:30There are two amazing people who spoke with you.
11:36Oh, I'm a little bit evil.
11:42It is my father.
11:43You have a true name in my heart.
12:02Our translator was guitarist Cenk Erdoğan, so these instruments did they originate here
12:09or did they originate in Central Asia?
12:11They come from the Central Asia actually, especially Saz and the Kopuz.
12:16You can see many, many different versions of it when you search back, but every region
12:23of Turkey has a different mode.
12:26We say makams, you know, makams, and every city has a type of playing and strumming,
12:31so you need to learn all this rhythmic stuff to become like a master of this instrument.
12:39Now she's going to perform a song from the middle Anatolia and this style of playing
12:45and this style of song is called Bozlak.
12:48Okay.
12:48What a song is called Bozlak.
13:21Muhannet, vay gurbet, yetmez mi vay vay?
13:35Aşıklara da böylece faz gelir, az gelir.
13:54What are these songs about? Are they about love or...?
13:58Of course in Anatolia we have songs about love, but we have different types of love.
14:04Love to a woman or a man, love to your country, like a patriotic way.
14:09And the last love, it's the love of God.
14:13And most of the Sufis and players, they write poems about how they can reach to God.
14:20So now they're going to perform a song from the Far East Anatolia.
14:24The name of the song is Ne Ağlarsın, which we can translate it, Why Do You Cry?
14:33Ne ağlarsın benim zülfüsü yalım. Ne ağlarsın benim zülfüsü yalım.
14:46Bu da gelir, bu da geçer, ağlama.
15:00Bu da gelir, bu da geçer, ağlama.
15:07Bu da gelir, bu da geçer, ağlama.
15:17Bu da gelir, bu da geçer
15:31Bu daharma.
15:31Bu da Gemini
15:32Bu da ampuer
15:38Bu da raft
15:56I've known Fossil Psy for more than 30 years, from when we were just starting our careers.
16:02Since then, he's written more than 100 original compositions, from solo piano pieces to full orchestral works.
16:21You know, I still remember very clearly the first time I heard you play, because you were playing your own
16:27piece.
16:29And when you started, I mean, people were shocked.
16:31And I thought, where is this music coming from?
16:34Maybe this is Turkish music?
16:36Yes, the first generation of Turkish composers, they composed Western music, orchestral music, all this.
16:44They were all students of Bartók.
16:46Bartók took them, they were very young, beginning of 20th century.
16:51They went wild in East Anatolia, recording and searching, trying to understand the folklore, folk music, and tunes, and all
17:01this.
17:02And using the ethnical element in the modern music, is also into my music, strongly, I think.
17:11Is that why you wrote this?
17:18Yes, this is a microtone.
17:20Yes.
17:20Between E and E flat, and this is exactly how Turkish music works.
17:25You have to play in between the notes.
17:26Between of those, exactly, we have strange rhythms, strange bars, and musical bars, like seven-eighths, nine-eighths, thirteen-eighths,
17:38or so.
17:39All this doesn't exist in Western European music.
17:42So, this part is the Turkish part right here.
17:46Many.
17:47One of the Turkish parts.
17:49On these two pages, you have so many Turkish parts, of course.
18:24One of the Turkish parts.
18:44Fossils music is a crossroads, too, where mournful Eastern melodies meet Western romanticism, making it accessible to both.
19:20Taksim Square is the heart of modern Istanbul.
19:23We went to one of their modern concert halls with Cem again.
19:40This is such a unique place.
19:42It's beautiful.
19:44Yes, this is the Atatürk Cultural Center.
19:46It's home to the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet.
19:48And I brought you here today especially because they're rehearsing an opera by Adnan Saigun.
19:53Saigun belongs to the first generation of Turkish composers who wrote in the Western side.
19:59And he was famous in his lifetime, yes, and since, I think he's a very important composer.
20:04He's really the kingpin of this change in musical culture in Turkey.
20:12Saigun originally fed on Turkish national music, folk music mainly, which was typical of that first generation of composers.
20:20A bit of a parallel to consider is that of Bartok, who started as a more obviously...
20:24He was here.
20:26He was here with Saigun collecting Turkish folk music, as he did all over Eastern Europe, but also including Anatolia.
20:33But Saigun did not only draw on Turkish folk music, but also on the soil itself.
20:37He was a bit of a mystic and was very interested in what made this soil, this country, what is
20:43now Turkey special.
20:44And the legend of Gilgamesh, on which the opera is based, is actually a Mesopotamian legend.
20:49I've heard of Gilgamesh.
20:50A typical story of an evil emperor looking for enlightenment.
20:55As far as we know, it's the oldest written document, oldest piece of literature that we have.
21:00And it originates from what is now this country.
21:03And Saigun was very...
21:04So Turkey is part of Mesopotamia.
21:06Mesopotamia is part of what is now Turkey.
21:08Okay, really?
21:09Because what we call Mesopotamia is between the two rivers of the Euphrates and the Tigris.
21:14But they're born, naturally, in what is now Turkey.
21:17We are now living on this land.
21:18But this is, you know, it's like the crossroads of the world, which has been home to so many civilizations,
21:23including the very earliest ones.
21:24And I think that is the key to understanding the international and universal appeal of his music.
21:30Should we go ahead and have a listen?
21:31Sure, sure.
22:08From there, we went to see and do another famous Turkish art form.
22:13With a master artist, Fikret Gouni.
22:17Wow.
22:18Oh.
22:19You probably recognize this art, called Ebru, from book bindings.
22:25Wow.
22:26My favorite color is orange.
22:28I'm going to go with this one.
22:30Only two fingers.
22:31Right.
22:32This?
22:32Yes.
22:32Okay.
22:33Okay.
22:33It is this way.
22:34Oh, that way.
22:35Okay.
22:36Okay.
22:37Oh!
22:38How did you do that so gracefully?
22:41Oh, you're doing well.
22:43Same way.
22:46Okay.
22:47When was this process first invented?
22:50Nearly 600 years ago.
22:52Okay.
22:53From Turkistan Bukhara came Istanbul, making Istanbul-Üsküdar-Özbekler Tekkesi.
23:00First time.
23:01So this technique migrated, it came from Turkestan?
23:06Turkistan Bukhara came Istanbul.
23:08To here.
23:09Okay.
23:15And then...
23:16This is Tarak.
23:19This way.
23:20Okay.
23:21Looks nice.
23:22Ooh.
23:23It's very nice Tarak.
23:34Wow.
23:36That looks cool.
23:38This way.
23:39Okay.
23:40Very nice.
24:05There is another art form that came to Istanbul, but this one from the West.
24:10We went with Cem to the Pera Museum to see their Ottoman portrait collection.
24:16See, this character is a French ambassador to the Ottoman court, dressed as a Turk.
24:22Hmm.
24:23So the depiction of the human image is completely forbidden in Islam.
24:27And the first sultan who actually dared having his portrait painted was Mehmet II.
24:33He had the audacity to bring in a painter from Renaissance Italy called Bellini.
24:38And absolute scandal at the time.
24:41But he could get away with anything.
24:42Highly enlightened monarch.
24:44Very brilliant character, 21 years old when he conquered the city.
24:47Spoke seven languages and all that.
24:49So at its largest, how far did the Ottoman Empire stretch?
24:54Very far.
24:55Most of the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, the whole of North Africa, the Balkan countries,
25:01Greece, quite a bit of the Black Sea region.
25:05Basically, anything with people of Islamic origin was actually covered by the empire.
25:10So really far east as well.
25:12Absolutely, yes.
25:13And tell me about Ottoman court music.
25:15What was that like?
25:16Well, Ottoman music is a slightly confusing term because it's a little bit like the Ottoman language.
25:21We have a language which is really a synthesis of Persian, Arabic, and what came from Central Asia.
25:28So the music was also very much part of that.
25:31All kinds of instruments.
25:32Anything that was at hand could become part of what we now call Ottoman Turkish classical music,
25:37to distinguish it from Turkish folk music.
25:57That is an incredible sounding clarinet.
26:01I've never heard a clarinet sound like that.
26:03Yes.
26:04Is it a different instrument?
26:06Yes.
26:07What key is this clarinet in?
26:10G-Clef.
26:12Yeah, G key.
26:12It's a G key.
26:13G key, yes.
26:14In soul?
26:15Yeah, soul.
26:15Turkish clarinet.
26:16Really?
26:17I've never heard of a G clarinet.
26:20That's incredible.
26:22That is an incredible looking instrument.
26:24What is that?
26:25Another incredible one.
26:26This is kanu.
26:27Kanu.
26:27Kanu, yes.
26:28Turkish music instrument.
26:29Okay.
26:30And do you change the tuning with those?
26:33Yes, these small levers.
26:34These are smaller than quarter tone.
26:37And then during playing we are changing it.
26:39Oh, fantastic.
26:40So it's like a harp pedal.
26:41Yeah.
26:42But they are quarter tones.
26:43You know, this is very smaller.
26:44Very small.
26:48Oh, you hear it.
26:50Yeah.
26:51Wow.
26:51Yeah.
26:52You don't tune the harp with these pedals.
26:54You are using pedal number four because you want the quarter tone or you want the three-eighths tone.
27:02Yes, during playing.
27:03During playing.
27:03Yeah, during playing.
27:04We are changing it, yeah.
27:05And so you, while you're playing this, you have to memorize, oh, I need this pedal.
27:09Yes.
27:10Or I need this one.
27:11Yes, and you have to know very good Turkish music flavors.
27:15So you are spicing the music with these.
27:17Yes, absolutely.
27:18Can we all play together?
27:19Sure.
27:20Okay, let's try it.
27:44This reed flute, the ney, is another interesting Turkish instrument.
27:48But we'll come back to that.
27:50Yeah.
28:50And another fossil, the imam, Fassil Ashikudlu.
28:54Fassil, these are chestnuts, right?
28:56Yes, this is our famous chestnut.
28:58Can we have some?
28:59Yes, of course you can.
29:01Let me give you, but please be careful, it can be hot.
29:05Okay.
29:14Do you like it?
29:15It's good.
29:16I love chestnuts.
29:17I don't like it so much.
29:21And I born in Bursa City.
29:24Mm-hmm.
29:25And Bursa City is famous with chestnuts.
29:28Okay.
29:29Yes.
29:30How long have you lived in Istanbul?
29:33Approximately 30 years.
29:35It seems like Istanbul is a really busy city.
29:39I mean, is it, what is the population of Istanbul?
29:43When I started to live here, the population was approximately 12 million.
29:51Mm-hmm.
29:51But now it's 16 million.
29:54Wow.
29:55So a very crowded city.
29:56Mm-hmm.
29:57But this city is very magical and mesmerized city.
30:02Mm-hmm.
30:02Yeah, I sense that.
30:04Great food here, too.
30:05Great food.
30:06Great food.
30:06Great sound.
30:07Great music.
30:08Is that the Blue Mosque?
30:09Yes.
30:10Can we walk there?
30:11Of course.
30:14So, Fazl, how did you become an imam?
30:17What inspired you?
30:19I became imam because I love to serve people.
30:22And in my family, there is lots of imams.
30:26Oh, really?
30:27Yes.
30:27My father was imam.
30:29Okay.
30:29Yes, my grandfather was imam.
30:31And your great-grandparents?
30:33Yes.
30:33Really?
30:33My grandparents, since Ottoman Empire, there were many religious scholars and leaders who
30:42served in high positions.
30:44It's like a family business.
30:45Yes.
30:46It's just like a family business.
30:48You know, in the United States, Islam has, for some people, a violent reputation.
30:55Unfortunately.
30:56My own personal experience with Muslims, one of whom actually is one of my favorite people,
31:02and he's from Istanbul.
31:04He's the least violent person I could ever imagine.
31:07He's so smart, so enlightened.
31:09What are the principles of Islam?
31:13Islam itself comes from salam, which means peace.
31:17Peace.
31:18Yes.
31:18To be honest, to be merciful, to be respectful to each other.
31:25Fazl, the call of prayer.
31:26Yes.
31:27This is the sound of Istanbul.
31:29In our call to prayer, they are singing with makams, microtones, and each call to prayer
31:38singing in its own makam.
31:41The words are the same, but the singing is very different.
31:47Every imam and every muezzin has their own style.
31:52So you have your own style?
31:54Yes.
31:54Okay.
31:55Tomorrow, my friends, they will show you.
32:05The next day, we went deep into the Uskedar neighborhood, which would have been a separate
32:10village when the Chinili Mosque was built 400 years ago.
32:15Though it's small, Chinili is famous for its blue tiles, each a magnificent artwork on its
32:21own.
32:23There, we met imams Mustafa al-Faita and Durzun Shaheen.
32:28I've never been to a place like this.
32:30This is such a beautiful mosque.
32:31This was built in the 1600s.
32:34Yes, 1600.
32:35Wow.
32:35If I may ask a personal question.
32:38Okay.
32:39Why did you become an imam?
32:41Good question.
32:45I was a child and my village come a new imam.
32:50His sounds very, very, very nice.
32:54So the new imam sang well.
32:56Yes.
32:56I like music.
32:58I finished conservatoire.
33:02Oh, wow.
33:02Yes.
33:03And after conservatoire, master.
33:08Really?
33:08Now, started doctora.
33:13If you're doing a doctorate.
33:14Yes, yes.
33:15Imam have two good sounds.
33:20Yeah.
33:20So is singing your favorite part of being an imam?
33:23Yes, music, my life.
33:27Fantastic.
33:28Yes.
33:28Well, can we hear you sing now?
33:30Yes.
33:32Yes.
33:34Oh, you're on a swanah.
33:37Oh, you're on a swanah.
34:02Oh, you're on a swanah.
34:06Oh
34:35When you are
34:41Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
35:06In Allah!
35:18Also in Uzkodar, we went to one of Istanbul's famous traditional markets.
35:23Is that a great leaf? Great leaf? I love this.
35:25Angoulin? Yeah. Very tasty.
35:27I love that.
35:28In Bilexi area, they are making rice.
35:31Mm-hmm.
35:33Dessert.
35:34Dessert?
35:34Yes.
35:36What?
35:36Fish dessert?
35:38I don't know about that.
35:39So you can buy this fried over there?
35:42Yes, you can buy and you can eat here.
35:44You can eat here.
35:45And it's amazing, right?
35:47Perfect. Very delicious. Very fresh.
35:48Besides art and culture, this is also the crossroads for food in the region.
35:53From east and west, from land and sea, Istanbul gets the best of everything.
35:59Can I try one? Thank you.
36:02Which one is your favorite?
36:05One more.
36:11With us were Virju Cardog, the nay player.
36:14Sorry.
36:16And Rifat Varol, who makes them.
36:25Rifat has built reed flutes for more than 20 years. By his count, he's made more than 5,000 sold
36:32all over the world.
36:33This is a good nay because it has nine joints. One, two, three, four.
36:38Okay.
36:38And to find like this, you can look, for example, 1,000 of them.
36:42Mm-hmm.
36:43Only one of them will be nay.
36:45Yes.
36:46One in 1,000 will be nay?
36:50Yes, one, yes.
37:02Turkish name has this mouthpiece.
37:05Oh, and that's beautiful.
37:06Original one, yes.
37:07Okay.
37:08And also, it's inside, it's empty.
37:10Right.
37:10Teal here.
37:11Mm-hmm.
37:12One horn, only two or three or one.
37:16One horn?
37:17Yes.
37:17Yes.
37:17Really?
37:37Mm-hmm.
37:38Wow.
37:39It's got a crown now.
37:42Now, we will find the holes.
37:46Yes.
37:47So, every reed that you're working with is a different length.
37:50Yes.
37:51So, the keys are going to be in different places.
37:54So, you have to calculate for each, every time.
37:57Because all that is unique.
38:05Somehow, it's very cool.
38:06I'm watching a nay being born.
38:10Wow.
38:14You will check the tuning.
38:16It must be C.
38:19Mm-hmm.
38:28Tuning is okay.
38:30Beautiful.
38:30Yes.
38:31So, it's done.
38:33It's yours.
38:34Really?
38:35Wow, thank you.
38:37This is so cool.
38:39Now, I just have to learn how to play it.
38:41Oh, my God.
38:43Oh, my God.
38:53Burju is one of the most respected nay players in all of Turkey.
38:57Though this is traditionally a male instrument.
38:59PIANO PLAYS
39:58PIANO PLAYS
40:02The Ne is best known from the music of Sufis, a Muslim religious sect.
40:08Rifat plays in one of their ensembles for their famous whirling dervishes.
40:41PIANO PLAYS
40:42Sufisim is right hand is up, left hand is down.
40:46This is the Sufi.
40:47So what is the meaning of this?
40:49This is right hand, it takes from the God, left hand is down, gives it to human.
40:55I am in the middle.
40:56You're the intermediary between God and man.
40:59Yes.
41:00That's Sufisim.
41:00That's Sufisim.
41:29Do you get dizzy?
41:31The first time we can.
41:33First time you get dizzy.
41:34First time we get dizzy.
41:35But now is every year is going so on, going so on.
41:39The disease and something like this comes down.
41:41So you haven't been dizzy in years?
41:43No.
41:50Actually, I've heard the whirling focuses their thoughts to enter a trance-like state.
41:55A meditation in motion set to music.
41:59So you haven't been done so far.
42:38Jem took us to the Tekvir Palace, the best preserved from Istanbul's Byzantine era.
42:44But we were here to see, and hear, an Ottoman-era military fixture, the Janissary Band.
42:51You know, you study Mozart and Beethoven, you hear about Janissary bands.
42:54I've never heard one live, so I'm very excited to hear one in the flesh.
42:58Yes, well, today's the day.
43:00They used to march in front of the army, actually established the rhythm of the march for the soldiers.
43:06It was also, yes, musicians, drums and everything on horseback, and also brass players on foot,
43:13establishing the arena and probably creating quite a scary effect for the enemy on the other side.
43:18Merhaba ey Mehteran!
43:22Merhaba!
43:24Mehter başı!
43:27Nevvete sela!
43:29Derfası!
43:31Essergan kalası!
43:33Hastur!
43:36Hayri!
43:38Ya Allah!
43:39Hayri!
44:08Yemこう!
44:10We know that he heard it from the ramparts of the,
44:13or top of the, of St. Stephen's Cathedral, perhaps.
44:16To be clear, it was not a concert.
44:18It was not a concert.
44:19It was an invasion.
44:21Yes, it's part of the offensive,
44:22and actually the composer who emulated
44:24in the middle of Sinfonia Atre,
44:25he wrote the symphony in three parts,
44:27but it's very weird.
44:29And it's a full century before it really became a fashion.
44:32The trumpets and drums, the Turkish effect
44:34in Haydn and Mozart and onwards.
44:39Oh, oh, oh, oh.
44:55Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
45:52I studied Mozart's violin concerto when I was eight years old.
45:55We were taught that it's a janissary band, but I didn't know what I was imitating.
45:59I wonder how many people actually realized that it's Turkish-inspired music.
46:04It is.
46:05The percussive element is something that comes in to the music, but also the melody contours
46:10are really imitated from the Turkish military band of the time.
46:14You know, even our two-year-old son knows what a janissary band is because he listens
46:18to the Rondo a la Turca on his toy at home.
46:22It's part of our musical DNA, isn't it?
46:25So you're right.
46:26Even if they don't know what it is, they know it.
46:28And so if we're playing this, what do you suggest we do?
46:33I think the main thing is to emulate as much as possible the percussive aspect of the music.
46:39And I think in that respect, it's okay to go a little bit over the top with it.
46:42I think it's okay to go a little bit over the top with it.
47:27Turkish music may have inspired the West three centuries ago, but today the West inspires
47:33Turkish music through, among other things, jazz.
47:37Cenk Erdogan is a virtuoso of the fretless guitar, the Istanbul version of a Western instrument.
47:44He plays Turkish jazz with crossover artists like Nami Yarkin on the Comanche.
48:01Well, that sounds very different from a normal guitar.
48:04But of course, you don't have the fret.
48:05And in our music, microtonal scales can be played only with fretless instruments.
48:12Right.
48:13When we play in a Turkish makam system, if you play like C sharp according to the scale,
48:19it has to be flatter sometimes.
48:21But on the regular guitar, you don't have it.
48:23Right.
48:23You have only one C sharp.
48:25And that's why it's a very open instrument than a guitar, regular guitar,
48:29because you can play any type of ethnic, ethical music and scale on it, you know.
48:34Can we hear this fretless instrument with this fretless instrument?
48:37Of course, of course.
49:14Can we hear this fretless instrument with this fretless instrument?
49:37That way, can we hear it?
50:13So when you write pieces, are you still, even today, drawing from Turkish folklore, Turkish folk music?
50:20But I don't take exactly the song or written. I take the DNA of it.
50:28This third movement here, what is this inspired by?
50:31This is music from Black Sea area by an instrument, Kemenche, which is a string instrument, size of violin.
50:39I've seen that instrument.
50:40Right.
50:41Yes, it's this big and you play it this way.
50:43Of course, this instrument makes this polyphonic microtonality.
50:46So that's why you write the microtone here.
50:48Microtones in this sonata a lot, yes, exactly.
50:52And the other movements are also inspired, like the first movement, like beginning to like nail flute.
50:59Yes.
50:59This melancholic sound of nail.
51:03So these instruments, these colors, these rhythms, this energy of rhythms, of course, very important in my life.
51:10Do Comanches play this fast?
51:14Yes.
51:14I mean, this is insanely fast.
51:16Insanely fast, yes.
51:18And they danced with this.
51:20Really?
51:20They danced like, you know, it's like electricity, you know, incredible, yeah.
51:25I'll do my very best.
51:26Yes, you will, you will.
51:57Ha, ha, ha.
51:58its unique flavor.
52:00Its history as a crossroads certainly plays a part.
52:06But more so, the folk music specific to Anatolia.
52:13And the instruments unique to Central Asia and this region.
52:21All these instruments, and of course the call to prayer,
52:25are microtonal, often playing between the notes of Western music.
52:43These things combine to make the sound you can only find in Istanbul.
52:49I'm Scott Yu, and I hope you can now hear this.
52:55My son-in-law,
52:56my dad-ovich-old himself,
52:57my son-in-law way.
53:25This program is available with PBS Passport and on Amazon Prime Video.
53:31To find out more about this and other Great Performances programs,
53:34visit pbs.org slash greatperformances and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
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