MHST 443 Area Study: Music of Turkey
Music of Turkey and the Ottoman Period An introduction to a variety of musical traditions from Turkey including Ottoman classical music, folk songs and dances from Thrace and Anatolia, Greek Orthodox church music, Turkish Sufi music, and several different popular musics. Through performance projects, recordings, transcriptions, analytical papers, and readings in history, practice and culture, students will explore the continuous tradition of composition and improvisation originating under the multiethnic Ottoman empire, which dominated the Middle East, North Africa and eastern Europe since the 14th century. A prominent feature of the course will be the development of an understanding of makam and usul, the systems of melodic and rhythmic composition and improvisation.