EMPLOYMENT AREAS OF THE KABAZURNA

  In Mehter Music:

Turkish people whose roots are based on the military since the plains of the Central Asia have a completely exceptional music and band owning different characteristics than other world nations with respect to meaning and importance also to music and performance. This band of Turkish people is called mehteran and the music mehter musikisi. 

The documents which demonstrate the existence of the mehter musikisi expressing the feeling of the Turkish soldiers reach out very early ages. Literarily, mehter is used as harmonica player, tent maker and kavas. The word called mihter in Persian language means also the greatest and majestic. Mehterhane is the name of the group of players before the acceptance of the military band by the Ottomans. 

Mehter being the Ottoman military music arose in the era of Osman Gazi and had been played in the wars and in the ceremonies organized for various aims everyday in accordance with the custom. There isn’t, however, definite information about this organization until the era of Fatih. With Fatih, while the establishment of the empire was improving, a radical improvement started also in the mehter organization.

Mehter tunes are found as old as XVIth century. Nevertheless, it is known that Abdülkadir Meragi, the great Turkish music master, came the Ottoman land during the era of Yıldırım Beyazıd Han and composed some mehter melodies for the Turkish military. In the period, Nefiri Behram Ağa and Emir-i Hac also wrote some mehter tunes. Mehter bands played some compositions of Hasan Can and Gazi Giray Han of Kırım, too. There was a great development in Turkish music in XVIIth century.  In the mean time, mehter-s such as Zurnazenbaşı (head of the zurna players) İbrahim Ağa, Zurnazen Daği, Ahmed Çelebi from Edirne, Mehter Ahmed from Edirne composed also mehter tunes.

Evliya Çelebi gave important data about mehterhane and mehter musikisi in the middle of XVIIth century. “There are 300 artists in mehterhane-i Hümayun (the mehterhane of the palace) in Istanbul. These are quite precious and well paid people. There is additionally a mehter takımı of 40 people in Yedikule since there is a citadel. They are on duty three times a day, in other words they give three concerts, so that public listens to Turkish military music. This is a law of Fatih. Moreover, there are 1.000 mehter artists in addition to them in Istanbul. Their bands are in Eyüp Sultan, Kasımpaşa (kapdan-ı Deryalık, the center of Turkish Naval Forces), Galata, Tophane, Rumelihisarı, Beykoz, Anadolu Hisarı, Üsküdar and Kız Kulesi. These mehter bands are on duty (i.e. give concerts) twice a day, in the daybreak and sunset hour.” 

Mehterhane preserved its existence changing continuously until the Janissary corps was abolished. According to its final form, each one was composed of nine davul-s, nine zurna-s, nine nakkare-s, nine cymbals and nine horns. This band was called Dokuz katlı mehterhane (mehterhane composed of instruments, each instrument’s number is nine). Mehter had many improvements in its music and performance parallel to its organization and establishment. Furthermore, renovations in the areas of art and culture influenced the music also. The studies and compositions of the music teachers of the palace in XVIIth century such as Hanende Recep Çelebi, Zurnazenbaşı İbrahim Ağa, Eyyubi Mehmet Çelebi, Solakzade Mehmed Hendemi (at the same time very famous historian) and III. Selim, the sultan and one of the great music masters of XVIIth century, had influence on the renovation of the mehter musikisi and the growing of the repertoire.

This well known and traditional organization was annulled while the radical and western types of reforms were taken place in the Ottoman Empire in the era of II. Mahmut (1808 - 1839). As “European style of music shows” were widened with the impact of the reformist efforts of the palace and its environment, II. Mahmud left the mehter aside and wanted a military band to be established in accordance with the western precedents. Muzıka-i Humayun (the military band of the palace) began officially to function in 1831 and this was the beginning of an obscure period in the history of the mehter having a past of at least 500 years

The documents reached from the ancient time to the present indicate that yurağ (zurna), sıbızgı (sipsili nefir, the horn), the horn of Hun (şahnay), burguv (the horn), kuğruv (kös), tümrük (davul) ve çeng (the cymbals) were the instruments in the tuğ band of the Turks in the central Asia.

There were two types of the zurna in the Ottomans. One of them called the kabazurna having a low tone was played in the mehterhane-s of the Ottomans and Kırım. 100 instrumentalists had played the kabazurna in XVIIth century in Istanbul. The other called the curazurna, small in size and having high tone was played in accompaniment of the davul or the çifte na’ra. Evliya Çelebi wrote “There are boathouses belonging to the sovereigns. If the sultan wants to go to the new-palace or somewhere else, he travels at the back of a light galley under the precious dome on the jewel throne by watching the waterside houses, vineyards and orchards and shipyards on the side of Haliç with the accompaniment of only the curazurna and the çifte na’ra performing“, while he was talking about the garden of the shipyard in Istanbul. The curazurna as the small zurna was planned to be added to the military mehter takımı, which was intended to be established by Enver Paşa in 1917. There were the kabazurna producers in Istanbul in XVIth century.

The musical instruments played in the mehterhane of the Ottomans could be classified as follows: 

Wind Instruments

The Kabazurna, the Cura zurna, the Horn, the Mehter pipe, the clarinet

Percussion Instruments

The Kös, the Davul, the Nakkare, the Tabılbaz, the Def

The Cymbals and the Rattles        

The Cymbals, the Çoğan

The Mehter bands were divided structurally into squadrons having a commander called bölükbaşı. The number of these squadrons was equal to the number of the kinds of the musical instrument; squadrons of the zurna players, of the horn players, of the nakkare players, of the cymbal players, of the davul players, of the kös players, of the çoğan players.

Zurnazenler Bölüğü  (the squadron of the zurna players) has a squadron master called zurnazen who has also the identity of mehterbaşı (head of the mehter). Other members of the squadron were called zurnacı or zurnazen whose rank was the soldier. Zurnazen-s were dressed in purple quilted cap wrapped by a white destar on their head, a white robe, sash around the waist, red shalwar, yellow yemeni (light, flat heeled shoes) and red biniş (cübbe).

The zurna is the most fundamental music instrument of the mehter band. It can play all the melodies in solo. Its sound is colorful, lively, pastoral, imposing, emotional and frisky. Sliding sounds and short and sharp sound can be obtained. Many virtuosos of this music instrument, the most convenient instrument for highly performing art among the Turkish music instruments, such as zurnazenbaşı İbrahim Ağa and Daği Ahmed Çelebi from Edirne whose name are still very well-known were bought up.  Moreover, there are great zurna masters among Ottoman pashas such zurnazen Mustafa Paşa.

The zurna-s in the Mehter Musikisi

 In Karagöz Music and Ortaoyunu

The musical instruments in Karagöz music are divided into two as “the instruments on the screen“ and “the instruments behind the screen“. Almost each instrument on the screen is folk music instruments. Nine shows where description of the instruments is used are determined. Tha davul, the zurna and the bağlama are the main among these instruments. The davul and the zurna are performed only by Hacivat and Karagöz. The main instruments behind the screen are Turkish art music instruments such as the violin, the ud, the kanun and the clarinet (or the zurna). 

The show of Karagöz “Garden Pleasure”:

Makam-s                   : Rast, Eviç, Hicazkar, Uşşak, Isfahan, Hüseyni, Karcığar, Bestenigar.

The instrument          : The zurna (by Hacivat)

The Davul and the Zurna in Karagöz Music

   The documents indicating that the kaba-zurna is used in the Karagöz music are not very common. On the other hand, it is assumed that the zurna mentioned in the written documents is the kabazurna since the makam-s used in the Karagöz music are more easily performed by the kabazurna and the portrays also proves this assertion. 

    In Orta Oyunu:

“Orta oyunu is the theatrical play performed in a humorous way and covering the themes such as female and male relationships, speeches of specific characters, philandering, rakishness, swaggering toughness, tyranny; costumes; lives at home, in garden, in hamam (Turkish bath), in café, in pub and other social lives; struggles of various social classes in the Ottoman Empire.”

On the contrary of musical instrumental diversity in Karagöz shows, single zurna and an accompanying rhythmically nakkare are the only instruments. This duo is seen same in all play texts except kunduracı (shoemaker) play where the band is explained as the davul and the zurna. In accordance with the theme of the play, such as the feasts (e.g. circumcision ceremony), other musical instruments are also observed. The zurna with the nakkare are generally performed while sitting in a convenient corner of the square. 

    Sample: Çeşme Oyunu (Fountain Play)

   The zurna plays “pişekar tune “ and “pişekar comes

   The zurna plays “kavuklu tune “ and “kavuklu comes with the dwarf “

   While the zurna is playing, zenne (man in female dresses) comes and sings.

“Pişekar tune“ in Segah and “Kavuklu tune “ in Hüseyni and Hicaz makam-s.

In all plays, while these two characters are coming into the scene, these special tunes are performed by the zurna and the nakkare. The makam-s of these special tunes are very suitable for the kaba-zurna. Furthermore, the pictures also show that the mentioned zurna is the kaba-zurna. 

 Ortaoyunu Perfoming in the Theatre of the Yıldız Palace

Many artists, mainly foreigners, had music, theatre and opera performances in Theatre of the Yıldız Palace. These performances were sometimes organized by the palace and sometimes the artists were chosen among the famous artists and companies having came to Beyoğlu/Istanbul according to the sultan’s request and were invited to the palace. Some Turkish artists also worked in those troupes. As a matter of fact, it is known that the ortaoyunu artists performing in the palace were also staff of the Muzika-ı Humayun. In this theatre, juggling, pantomime and Karagöz shows were presented except for the theatre and ortaoyunu

     In the Court Music

There were many known and widely used music instruments in istanbul at the beginning of the century in the Ottoman period. Some of them, however, are forgotten and abandoned. The names of these instruments were Ravza, Şeştar, Kara zurna, Punkar, Berbet, Kabazurna, Cura zurna, Asafi zurna, Arabi zurna, Acemi zurna, Şehri zurna, Çoban kavalı, Kaba düdük, Çığırtma, Dilli düdük, Mızmar düdüğü, Danyika düdüğü, Tulum düdüğü, Eyüp borusu and Kamış mizmar

 Group of musicians performing in the Theatre of the Yıldız Palace 

The kabazurna is seen clearly in the photographs although there are very little written documents mentioning that it was used in the court music in the Ottoman era. 

  In Folk Music and Folk Dances:

The kabazurna has an important place among the Turkish folk music instruments because it is widely used in many regions. Despite the fact that it is so important, this instrument has not became as widespread as it deserves and couldn’t find very wide employment area. The principal reason is the tradition of singing of folk song. The bağlama, which is the main instrument of Turkish folk music and which performs both melody and rhythm by the movements of the plectrum, fulfills the requirement of this tradition.

The other reasons hindering the instrument to be more active may be the deficiency of the zurna producers, the troubles in obtaining it on the contrary to other instruments, the difficulty in its playing, and the lack of performers influencing the instrument’s widening. 

The kabazurna is used very widely in Tokat, Sivas, and their periphery and especially in Thrace and Aegean. It must accompany to zeybek and karşılama styles of dances to make the characteristic and the manner of the dance clearer. 

The folk dances performed in the Western Anatolia are mostly zeybek style of dances. The Zeybek tunes begin with the part traditionally called gezinleme (introduction) which is performed by just the musical instruments. When the rhythmical part of the tune starts, the dancers begin to perform. Generally, two kabazurna-s are used in the zeybek style of the dances. One of them plays the melody and the other drones. 

The folk dances performed in the Thrace are karşılama style of dances. They start in a slow tempo and speed up gradually. Two davul-s and two zurna-s are performed for the dances. One of the zurna-s plays the melody and the other drones.

The kabazurna is actively employed in the folk dances. Folk dances have a significant role for the survival of the instrument up till the present time and for the introduction to masses. 

           KABAZURNA PLAYER AT THRACE                                   KABAZURNA PLAYER AT AEGEAN