Other instruments from the medieval period include the gittern, a bulky, flat bodied instrument representing a single piece of wood with four strings – this acted as one of the early prototypes for how we’d later understand the guitar. The fiddle also originated during this period as a three to fivestring instrument with a larger body than the contemporary fiddle and violin. Lyres provided the basis for what we understand as the classical harp, and have been reproduced in the 20th century, with the originals stored in locations like the British Museum.ĭuring the medieval era, stringed and bowed instruments began to emerge around several designs in the Middle East, the rebec used a half pear shape and three strings for vertical playing, and acted as an important precursor to the violin. The rebab, for instance, is a more than one thousand-year-old bowed, stringed instrument made of coconut shell and horsehair, and the saz, a larger stringed lute, is commonly used in Anatolian folk music.How have string instruments developed over time, and what have been some of their key innovations? From the earliest lyres played thousands of years ago, to the influence of Middle Eastern music on instruments like the rebec, and through to the developments in electric guitars and violins in the 20th century, the following represents a brief history of how string instruments have developed over time, and what instruments acted as forerunners to what we use today.īuy instruments with the latest coupons on CouponAnnieĪccording to Guitar Junky the earliest recorded string instruments were discovered to have been used in Ancient Mesopotamia in 2500 to 3000 BC – lyres were stringed instruments that had a wooden body and bows, and were held against the body. In addition to the familiar violin, double bass, and oud, the concert featured several Ottoman-Turkish stringed instruments and drums that are less familiar to American audiences.
Leyla Saz was a poet from an aristocratic background. Adile Sultan, for example, was the sister of two sultans, Abdülmecid I (r. Most women composers whose work has survived had connections to palace patronage. Ottoman and Turkish music is typically classified according to its makam, a melodic pattern constructed around a certain set of notes and intervals that governs the progression of a composition. These selections showcased the variety of Ottoman music, from Adile Sultan’s (1826-99) “Gizlice Şaha Buyur” to Leyla Saz’s (1850-1936) “Nerdesin Nerede Acep.” The former is an ilahi, or hymn, in the hicaz makam, the latter a şarkı, song, in the hicazkar makam. The program continued with ten more pieces composed by Ottoman women between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. It is likely, Turkmenoğlu explained, that the second of the Reftâr pieces, the instrumental Saba Saz Semaisi, had not been performed in hundreds of years, since Değirmenci discovered the composition deep in the archives.
All have performed classical Turkish and world music internationally, and recently developed the Turkish-Ottoman Women Composers program to bring attention to female composers whose names-and often works-have remained anonymous. Two of those pieces, composed by Reftâr, were brought to life by the quartet of Boston-based musicians who organized the evening’s program: Ceren Turkmenoğlu, Volkan Efe, Michael Harrist, and Tev Stevig. Hamparsum notation, as it is known, is indecipherable to non-experts, but Değirmenci has transcribed several pieces written in it to current notation. After describing the texts she used to construct Reftâr’s identity, Değirmenci turned to the musical notation in which the composer’s few surviving works are preserved. But beyond this, little is known about Reftâr’s own life. Harem ladies commonly received musical training, Değirmenci explained. Reftâr lived in the seventeenth century and was a concubine in the harem of the Ottoman sultan at Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. In her talk, titled “A Woman Composer in the Hamparsum Manuscripts: Reftâr,” Değirmenci recounted how years of research on musical manuscripts in the Ottoman archives led her to the discovery of a previously unknown female composer, Reftâr. The evening began with an introductory lecture by Zehra Tülin Değirmenci, professor of musicology at the Haliç University Institute of Social Sciences in Istanbul.
The event was held as part of the continuing Sohbet-i Osmani series organized by Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar.
On the evening of April 26, nearly 100 members of our community gathered for a concert that brought to light the underappreciated contributions of women composers to Ottoman music.