The creation of an Ottoman Turkish Psalter : Ali Ufkî’s (Bobovius) "Mezmûriyye" (ca. 1665) and Maciej Rybiński’s "Psalmy Dawidowe" (1608)

Wojciech Bobowski szerzej znany jest pod zlatynizowaną wersją swojego imienia: Albertus Bobovius oraz pod tureckim imieniem: Ali Ufki. Prawdopodobnie urodził się we Lwowie ok. 1610 r., a zmarł w Stambule ok. 1675 r. Pozostawił po sobie dzieła, które dziś zaklasyfikowalibyśmy do kilku dziedzin humanistyki: muzykologii, językoznawstwa, religioznawstwa, kulturoznawstwa, historii politycznej, a nawet etnografii. Do jego najbardziej znanych prac należą: tłumaczenie Biblii na język turecki (1662-1664), wpływowy traktat o islamie (1690), szczegółowy opis sułtańskiego pałacu Topkapı w Stambule i jego mieszkańców (1665) - gdzie żył i służył jako nadworny muzyk - oraz zbiór ponad 500 osmańsko-tureckich utworów zapisanych w europejskiej notacji muzycznej (ok. 1640-1650). W niniejszym artykule autorka najpierw przedstawia wyniki swoich badań archiwalnych dotyczących młodości Bobowskiego w Rzeczpospolitej. Następnie wskazuje, że kiedy pracował nad "Mezmuriyye" - tłumaczeniem Psałterza Genewskiego na język turecki i jego muzyczną adaptacją (ok. 1665) - mógł inspirować się polskim przekładem Psałterza z języka francuskiego autorstwa Macieja Rybińskiego, wpływowego biskupa Kościoła reformowanego w XVII-wiecznej Polsce. Teoria ta opiera się na analizie porównawczej francuskich, polskich i tureckich tekstów psalmów, a także na uderzającym podobieństwie wizualnym "Mezmuriyye" Bobowskiego i starodruku "Psalmów Dawidowych na melodie francuskie uczynione" Rybińskiego z 1608 roku.Wojciech Bobowski is better known in international academia under the Latinised version of his name: Albertus Bobovius and by his Turkish name: Ali Ufki. Most probably, he was born in Lviv, ca. 1610 and died in Constantinople, ca. 1675. He left for posterity numerous works that today we would classify as belonging to several fields of the humanities: musicology, linguistics, religious studies, cultural studies, political history and even ethnography. His best-known works include one of the earliest translations of the Bible into Turkish (1662–1664), an influential treatise on Islam (1690), a description of the Topkapı Palace (1665) – the main seat of the Ottoman sultan, where he lived and worked as a court musician – and collection of more than 500 Ottoman Turkish musical pieces written in European stave notation (ca. 1640–1650). In this paper, the author first presents outcomes of her current archival research on Bobowski’s early life in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Then, she demonstrates the possibility that when working on Mezmuriyye – the Ottoman Turkish psalter, Ali Ufki took inspiration from the Polish translation of the Genevan Psalter from French by Maciej Rybiński, an influential bishop of the Reformed Church in the 17th-century Poland. This theory is based on the analysis of linguistic content of French, Polish and Ottoman Turkish lyrics, as well as the striking visual resemblance of Bobowski’s Mezmuriyye and one specific old-print of Rybiński’s Psalmy Dawidowe na melodie francuskie uczynione published in 1608

Traces of the Ottoman musical tradition in early 20th-century Western-style Turkish art music

The Turkish Five (Türk Beşleri) is a name given to a group of composers whose works set out the direction for modern Western-style Turkish art music. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the new generation of musicians trained in Europe had been given the task to establish a new musical tradition for the modern Turkish society. It was supposed to replace the Ottoman musical tradition. According to outlines given by the Turkish government, the new "National Music" (Millî Musiki) should encompass elements of Western-style art music and melodies of Turkish folk music. Five composers were especially successful in fulfilling this task, Necil Kâzım Akses, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Ahmet Adnan Saygun and Cemal Reşit Rey. By their compositions, they brought to live music that was appreciated by Kemal Atatürk himself. Although they were supposed to avoid any elements of the Ottoman musical tradition, even in the most popular works of this period, one can hear influences that were not to be heard in the Millî Musiki. In this paper, the author presents the main guidelines and historical overview of the "musical revolution" which took place in Turkey of the early-republican period (1923-1938). Next, provides a list of compositions which prove her thesis that composers born in 1904-1908, as the youngest generation of the Ottoman Empire's elite, did not completely reject the Ottoman musical heritage in which they were raised and brought some of its elements into 20th-century Western-style Turkish classical music

Turkism in music : political influences in the musical culture of the young Republic of Turkey (1923-1938)

Dla Kemala Atatürka, założyciela Republiki Tureckiej i jej pierwszego prezydenta, reforma systemu edukacji muzycznej i instytucji kultury była równie istotna jak reformy dotyczące języka czy obyczajów. Według założeń polityków, stworzenie zupełnie nowego nurtu muzycznego, który łączyłby elementy tureckiej kultury ludowej oraz europejskie techniki kompozytorskie, doprowadzić miało do całkowitego wyparcia tradycji muzyki osmańsko-tureckiej z kultury wysokiej nowego, laickiego państwa. Jej estetyka, głęboko zakorzeniona w tradycji kultury cywilizacji islamu, nie odpowiadała bowiem – w ich mniemaniu – potrzebom rodzącego się nowoczesnego społeczeństwa Turcji. W niniejszym artykule autorka przedstawi najważniejsze założenia programowe narodowej szkoły tureckiej w muzyce klasycznej XX wieku, kładąc szczególny nacisk na jej związki z polityką. Nowa muzyka narodowa (Millî Musıki), wymarzona przez „piewcę panturkizmu” – Ziya’ę Gökalpa, powstała za sprawą działalności kompozytorów i pedagogów nazwanych Wielką Piątką (Türk Beşleri) muzyki tureckiej. Stworzone przez nich fundamenty pozwoliły na szybki rozwój stylu i także dzisiaj jego twórcy poszukują nowych dróg artystycznego wyrazu.In 1923 the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed. Its first president, Kemal Atatürk dedicated his life to legal, political and social reforms in his newly-founded state. It is generally believed that the most important cultural changes of this period took place in the fields of language and customs. This paper aims to present a historical overview of the westernization process in usually forgotten in this context field – musical culture. For Kemal Atatürk and his political advisors reforms in musical education system and in the music itself were no less important than those in other fields of culture. Ziya Gökalp, often characterized as the father of Turkish nationalism, in his book-manifesto entitled The Principles of Turkism, stated that the invention of the new national music (Millî Musıki) is essential for the foundation and development of the Turkish community. According to him Millî Musıki was supposed to be combination of the Turkish folk music and European classical music. The second aim of this paper is to show how the first generation of modern Turkish composers put into practice principles of ideal national Turkish music, imagined by the political authorities of Turkey, and how this “new tradition” is continued nowadays

The The Creation of an Ottoman Turkish Psalter. Ali Ufkî’s (Bobovius) <i>Mezmûriyye</i> (ca. 1665) and Maciej Rybiński’s <i>Psalmy Dawidowe</i> (1608)

Wojciech Bobowski is better known in international academia under the Latinised version of his name: Albertus Bobovius and by his Turkish name: Ali Ufki. Most probably, he was born in Lviv, ca. 1610 and died in Constantinople, ca. 1675. He left for posterity numerous works that today we would classify as belonging to several fields of the humanities: musicology, linguistics, religious studies, cultural studies, political history and even ethnography. His best-known works include one of the earliest translations of the Bible into Turkish (1662–1664), an influential treatise on Islam (1690), a description of the Topkapı Palace (1665) – the main seat of the Ottoman sultan, where he lived and worked as a court musician – and collection of more than 500 Ottoman Turkish musical pieces written in European stave notation (ca. 1640–1650). In this paper, the author first presents outcomes of her current archival research on Bobowski’s early life in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Then, she demonstrates the possibility that when working on Mezmuriyye – the Ottoman Turkish psalter, Ali Ufki took inspiration from the Polish translation of the Genevan Psalter from French by Maciej Rybiński, an influential bishop of the Reformed Church in the 17th-century Poland. This theory is based on the analysis of linguistic content of French, Polish and Ottoman Turkish lyrics, as well as the striking visual resemblance of Bobowski’s Mezmuriyye and one specific old-print of Rybiński’s Psalmy Dawidowe na melodie francuskie uczynione published in 1608

Historical overview of the Oriental themes in European classical music in the context of Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism

The aim of this paper is to present a theme of Orientalism in European classical music. After Orient and Orientalism have been shortly defined, both in the social and the musical context, attempts are made to analyse how the Oriental ideology, defined by Edward Said, has affected the works of composers in various historical periods. These aspects that prove Said’s theory can be easily found in European classical music. Along with chronological review of the Oriental themes in European music what is briefly presented are the changes of Oriental musical language across the centuries, starting with the 17th century