1. TURKISH ART MUSIC
Ottoman classical music (Turkish: Türk sanat
müziği – turkish art music or Klasik Türk mûsikîsi –
classical turkish music) developed in Istanbul and
major Ottoman towns from Skopje to Cairo, from
Tabriz to Morocco through the palace, mosques, and
sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire.[1] Above all a vocal
music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo
singer with a small instrumental ensemble.

2. In recent times instruments might include
tambur (lute), ney (flute), kemençe (fiddle), keman
(Western violin), kanun (zither), or other instruments.
Sometimes described as monophonic music, the
variety of ornamentation and variation in the ensemble
requires the more accurate term heterophonic.

3. Overview
Ottoman music has a large and varied system of
modes or scales known as makams, and other rules of
composition. There are more than 600 makams that have
been used so far. Out of these, at least 119 makams are
formally defined, but today only around 20 makams are
widely used. In the sufi teaching, each makam represents
and conveys a particular psychological and spiritual state.
Sometimes, in certain makams, Ottomans would use
different instrumental and vocal musical pieces in order to
cure certain medical and psychological conditions.

4. A number of notation systems were used for
transcribing classical music, the most dominant being
the Hamparsum notation in use until the gradual
introduction of western notation. Turkish classical
music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the
most respected of which is Istanbul's Üsküdar Musiki
Cemiyeti.

5. Traditional instruments in Ottoman classical
music today include tanbur long-necked plucked
lute, ney end-blown flute, kemençe bowed fiddle, oud
plucked short-necked unfretted lute, kanun plucked
zither, violin, and in Mevlevi music, kudüm drum.
Older instruments still in use include lavta.
Musical instruments

6. Ottoman classical music comprises many vocal and
instrumental forms, among which are the suites called fasıl.
A fasıl typically includes many instrumental and/or vocal
movements, including taksim, peşrev, şarkı, beste, and
kar, among others.
Forms

7. Ottoman music has various genres including
the spiritual, improvised
("gazel", "kaside", "durak", etc.) and fasil music. The
latter is more secular.
Genres

8. Other famous proponents of this genre include
Dede Efendi, Prince Cantemir, Baba
Hamparsum, Kemani Tatyos Efendi, Sultan Selim III
and Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. The most
popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir
Nurettin Selçuk, who was the first to establish a lead
singer position. Other performers include Bekir Sıdkı
Sezgin, Alaeddin Yavaşça, Müzeyyen Senar and Zekai
Tunca.
Composers and Performers