COMMENT

Of course receiving such a report supported Atatürk’s instructions to implement Turkish music directed in western style and to direct the efforts to contemporary art. However it was not easy to make the people to love the opera, as they could not be able to approve of the polyphony which was strange to their ears. Western people also did not get used to the opera easily. Therefore the foreign specialist had emphasized this.

Inspite of this, the suggested steps and advice in the report could not be carried out except for some individual experiments.

This of course has some reasons. In my opinion, the arrangements were not made according to Atatürk’s instructions. Even today Turkish music and western music arguments are continuing. Before the operas, which are a matured and developed kind of the theatre, it has been advised to try the operettas, experiments have also been made, successful experiments. It has also been proposed to start with Hungarian music that could be preferred by Turkish people by furnishing them with the domestic figures, decorations, dressings, etc.

The advice to prefer Hungarian music can be approved of as a historical reality however it is possible to benefit from the rich and convenient sources of Turkish folk music. It is also possible to benefit from the events the music originates from.

The separating of cultural styles and the melodies in the same geographical district (especially in Balkan countries) cause the same music to occurre.

The efficiency of the Turkish music conveyed by the Turkish raiders in the past has clearly been observed in the music of that district.

But the Hungarian and the other Balkan’s have implemented their music and given the polyphone variety to them.

By the way, to point out a remarkable point in this respect. There was a passage such as follows:

“The Turkish music taste could be repressed by the hypnotic influence of Arabic and Byzantine music...” in the report.

This approach is an defective point of view proposed by persons who did not know Turkish music.

I know that the person who prepared this report had investigated and knew Turkish music in it’s own right is a valued expert and a friend of the Turks. Unfortunately, it is not only the foreign experts, some Turkish experts abused Turkish music in that way.

A valued friend of the Turks, Mr. Ojen Borrel, who had investigated the depth of Turkish music and has written many things in this respect, says just the same as follows in one of his letters.

“The thesis concerning the influence of Byzantine on Turkish music is completely wrong. How could it be possible for the victorious to adopt the Byzantine music despite they hate them. Owing to bloody wars held between religions, Byzantine church song could not have any influence.”

Another mistake, namely, regarding Turkish music as a branch of Persian and Arabic music, could not hold to investigation in this respect.

Iran (Persia), Arabic and Anatolia are not the same in respect of makams, styles. The comparison scales of “makams” and “singing” can be useful to show the differences. Investigations on music of Uzbek, Tartar, Turkmen are also useful to understand the real sources of Turkish music.

Foreigners confuse the Indian, Persian, Arabian, Armenian music to the each other. They are no different than the the Italian and French schools.

Mr. Mahmut Ragıp Gazimihal had written in his book “The Music Activity in the Balkans” as follows:

“The favouret musician of his age, Sadi Uyan, the master of Abdülkadir Menagi who has been supposed to be the father of the Turkish music...

There has not been any influence on Turkish musicians by Arabic musicians...”

A new epoch was marked from the late years of XVIII. Century

Itri was one of the greatest of this new epoch.

Petro Campadariyo’s attempt to adopt the chant to Turkish Music was in this new epoch. The masters of old chant that is simplified and diatonic had admired the magnificence of the victors’ (Turkish) music. They were surprised when they red the theoretical essentials and books, because they found the names of the Greek adjudicators’ name as (Nete, Paripat, Ficinen, Doriyan) and the Greek music idioms in these books.

They had learned the old Greek music rules, and many newly adopted formulas from the Turkish music masters. They forgot ear to ear tradition of the old religious epoch due to the Turkish melodies by adopting the new Turkish music...

These are the historical reasons of the similarities between historical Turkish music and Fener chant.

Many of historical realities can be listed in this subject.Thus the unfoundedness of abusing Turkish music as a hybrid of Arabic, Iranian and Byzantine has been exposed.