A comprehensive book portraying the history of Turkish Classical Music has been released in collaboration with the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and Istanbul Armenians. Titled ‘Classical Ottoman Music and Armenians,’ the book’s Istanbul-born writer, Aram Kerovpyan, encourages today’s youth to learn about the beauty of the past
 The author of the book says it is an important resource that goes back 200 years. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL |
An Istanbul-born musicologist has released a new book detailing the contributions Armenian composers have made through the ages to Turkish classical music.
“All these figures show the richness of our land,” said Yaşar Kurt, secretary-general of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, which supported the publishing of Aram Kerovpyan’s “Klasik Osmanlı Müziği ve Ermeniler” (Classical Ottoman Music and Armenians).
“This is an important resource book going back 200 years ago and showing us who carried Turkish classical music to the present,” he said.
Kerovpyan, who was born in Istanbul but has lived in Paris for 33 years, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that not only Armenian composers, but also Greek and Jewish composers, had made great contributions to Turkish classical music.
Turkish music had been a multi-colored identity that made the genre very rich, Kurt said. “Our common denominator is culture; language, religion, identity and race are not important… They offered us a project and we realized it.”
The agency had accepted Kerovpyan’s book project with great pleasure, he said.
Fidelity to his teacher
Kerovpyan was a student of Turkish classical music master, zither and oud virtuoso Sadettin Öktenay.
Commemorating his master, Kerovpyan said their relationship was more than simply a student-teacher or master-apprentice bond. “We loved each other just like father and son. I spent the best years of my early youth with Öktenay,” Kerovpyan said.
Asked about Kütahya-born, Armenian ethnomusicologist Gomidas Vardabed, who was commemorated in both Turkey and Armenia last week on the 140th anniversary of his birth, Kerovpyan said the events organized to remember the great composer were very positive.
“There is no reason to not commemorate him. He is a man of this land. Turkey’s world-renowned poet Nazım Hikmet was banned, too, but he is openly mentioned today. The world is changing, Turkey is changing, too,” Kerovpyan said, but added that Turkey had had painful experiences in the past and there were also other problems.
Still, he said, “Time is passing by, relations are being re-established.”
Problems with conservatories
Kerovpyan said there were still problems with the ownership of music, among other music-related problems.
“Like in many other fields, there are prejudices in conservatories, too. There is no getting past the perception of official history. It takes too much time to reach the real truth. The young generation should learn the truth and perceive the beauty of the past. They will ask as long as they learn and they will see the richness of this land as long as they ask,” Kerovpyan said.
In the first volume of the two-volume “Classical Ottoman Music and Armenians” there are chapters covering “Change, Transitivity – National Music,” “Non-Muslims and Classical Ottoman Music,” “Armenian Church Music” and “Notes of Hamparszum – Meeting of Armenians and Ottomans in Music.” The second book includes detailed information about composers and their works. The book is also set to be translated into French and English in the near future.
The book was further made possible by contributions from the Yedikule Sırp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital.
Aram Kerovpyan
Kerovpyan was born in Istanbul and started his music education in Armenian choirs in Istanbul and by attending private lessons with Saadettin Öktenay.
A graduate of the Istanbul State Architecture and Engineering Academy Electricity Engineering Department, Kerovpyan moved to Paris in the 1970s and worked with Middle Eastern musicians.
After beginning studying Armenian Church music he formed a group called “Agn” in 1985, later finishing a doctoral thesis on Armenian Church music.
Kerovpyan has since organized seminars and conferences and his three reference books on Armenian music have been released in France.
“All these figures show the richness of our land,” said Yaşar Kurt, secretary-general of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, which supported the publishing of Aram Kerovpyan’s “Klasik Osmanlı Müziği ve Ermeniler” (Classical Ottoman Music and Armenians).
“This is an important resource book going back 200 years ago and showing us who carried Turkish classical music to the present,” he said.
Kerovpyan, who was born in Istanbul but has lived in Paris for 33 years, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that not only Armenian composers, but also Greek and Jewish composers, had made great contributions to Turkish classical music.
Turkish music had been a multi-colored identity that made the genre very rich, Kurt said. “Our common denominator is culture; language, religion, identity and race are not important… They offered us a project and we realized it.”
The agency had accepted Kerovpyan’s book project with great pleasure, he said.
Fidelity to his teacher
Kerovpyan was a student of Turkish classical music master, zither and oud virtuoso Sadettin Öktenay.
Commemorating his master, Kerovpyan said their relationship was more than simply a student-teacher or master-apprentice bond. “We loved each other just like father and son. I spent the best years of my early youth with Öktenay,” Kerovpyan said.
Asked about Kütahya-born, Armenian ethnomusicologist Gomidas Vardabed, who was commemorated in both Turkey and Armenia last week on the 140th anniversary of his birth, Kerovpyan said the events organized to remember the great composer were very positive.
“There is no reason to not commemorate him. He is a man of this land. Turkey’s world-renowned poet Nazım Hikmet was banned, too, but he is openly mentioned today. The world is changing, Turkey is changing, too,” Kerovpyan said, but added that Turkey had had painful experiences in the past and there were also other problems.
Still, he said, “Time is passing by, relations are being re-established.”
Problems with conservatories
Kerovpyan said there were still problems with the ownership of music, among other music-related problems.
“Like in many other fields, there are prejudices in conservatories, too. There is no getting past the perception of official history. It takes too much time to reach the real truth. The young generation should learn the truth and perceive the beauty of the past. They will ask as long as they learn and they will see the richness of this land as long as they ask,” Kerovpyan said.
In the first volume of the two-volume “Classical Ottoman Music and Armenians” there are chapters covering “Change, Transitivity – National Music,” “Non-Muslims and Classical Ottoman Music,” “Armenian Church Music” and “Notes of Hamparszum – Meeting of Armenians and Ottomans in Music.” The second book includes detailed information about composers and their works. The book is also set to be translated into French and English in the near future.
The book was further made possible by contributions from the Yedikule Sırp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital.
Aram Kerovpyan
Kerovpyan was born in Istanbul and started his music education in Armenian choirs in Istanbul and by attending private lessons with Saadettin Öktenay.
A graduate of the Istanbul State Architecture and Engineering Academy Electricity Engineering Department, Kerovpyan moved to Paris in the 1970s and worked with Middle Eastern musicians.
After beginning studying Armenian Church music he formed a group called “Agn” in 1985, later finishing a doctoral thesis on Armenian Church music.
Kerovpyan has since organized seminars and conferences and his three reference books on Armenian music have been released in France.
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