An Unexected Treat

Today was the last day of finals. I spent the entire day administering and grading exams and entering data into an interminable number of spreadsheets. We learned yesterday that there would be a concert of traditional Turkish music on the campus this evening, beginning at 5 PM. I tried to get some pictures, but it was difficult. At the end of the concert the group disbanded quite quickly, and I was a bit self-conscious about photographing during the concert – even though others were doing it.

The gentleman in front of the Turkish flag is playing the Baglama. On the left is the Ney. The drummer is out of sight on the far left.

The ensemble consisted of a drum (Bendir ), and recorder-like wooden flute (Ney), a violin (Keman), a zither of some sort (Kanun), a guitar (Gitar), a strummed instrument similar to the Ud but with a very long, thin neck (Tanbur), and another lute-like strummed instrument (Baglama). The guitarist and the baglama players were also vocalists. They played some songs that everyone knew, and a lot of their must made you want to get up and dance. The concert was recorded, and we’ve been told we can get a CD.

The instrument on the far right is the Tanbur.

The ensemble consisted of a drum (Bendir ), and recorder-like wooden flute (Ney), a violin (Keman), a zither of some sort (Kanun), a guitar (Gitar), a strummed instrument similar to the Ud but with a very long, thin neck (Tanbur), and another lute-like strummed instrument (Baglama). The guitarist and the baglama players were also vocalists. They played some songs that everyone knew, and a lot of their must made you want to get up and dance. The concert was recorded, and we’ve been told we can get a CD.



One nice thing was the stage. They set up lanterns, copper vessels and traditional table clothes in front of the musicians. It made me think of a couple of restored Gaziantep houses of the early 1900s – kind of homey. I’d like to hear more live performance of this kind of music.

This is the Kanun player. If you click on the picture, you will see the two metal picks on his fingers. He was really amazing.

Here’s a link to web pages depicting many of these instruments.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=tr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.turkmusikisi.com%2Fcalgilar%2Findex.html&anno=2

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=tr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.turkmusikisi.com%2Fcalgilar%2Findex.html&anno=2