Ottoman Urban Music

During the Ottoman era, a refined musical tradition flourished in the great urban centers, known today as “Ottoman” or “Ottoman-Turkish” music. Sometimes described as art music, classical, or courtly, it was fundamentally an urban musical culture. Structurally, it is based on the modal system of makam and the rhythmic cycles of usul. Its repertoire consists of instrumental and vocal compositions, each defined by its rhythmic pattern, formal structure, and, in the case of vocal works, the poetic text. A typical Ottoman music ensemble today features instruments such as the kanun, the kemençe (lyra), the ud, the ney, the tanbur, and drums like the kudüm or bendir. Depending on the context, additional instruments such as the cello, the yaylı tanbur, or the violin may be included.

Ottoman urban music shares affinities with other musical systems of the broader Middle Eastern world, such as the Iranian radif, the Indian raga, the Arabic maqam, and shashmaqam from Central Asia. Simply put, these traditions belong to the same family of modal musical systems, linked by a common heritage to some extent, yet each has developed into a distinct tradition with its own history and defining musical characteristics. Ottoman urban music, in particular, evolved into an autonomous idiom with its own regional features, centered inIstanbul by the second half of the 17th century. This followed an earlier period in which musical fashions, stylistic norms, repertoire, and even the most highly paid musicians arrived from the great cultural centers further east, in the Middle East and Central Asia—most notably, what is now Iran.