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Ottoman Mehter music,
which for centuries accompanied the marching Ottoman
army into battle, still echoes in that of drum and
zurna - an oboe-like woodwind instrument with seven
holes above and one below - which are a part of
folk culture all over Turkey. Mehter music was a
symbol of sovereignty and independence, and its
ardent sounds instilled the soldiers with strength
and courage. The rousing songs and crashing sound
of the great kös drums were at the same time capable
of unnerving the enemy on the brink of battle, and
the mehter music composers took pains to create
works that produced this effect.The mehter band
was established in 1299 when Osman Gazi was made
bey or liege lord by the Seljuk sultan Keykubat
III, who sent him a tabl (kettle drum) and finial
as symbols of rank. However, with the dissolution
of the Janissary Corps by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826,
the mehter bands were also dispersed, and not until
Ferik Ahmed Muhtar Paşa founded the Imperial Military
Museum in 1908 was it decided to revive the tradition.
In 1914 it was reestablished as the Mehterhane-i
Hakani - Royal Mehter Band - attached to the museum.
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The band was again abolished in 1935 by then minister
of defence Zekai Apaydın Bey, only to be reformed
in 1952 as an institution of historical interest
attached to Istanbul Military Museum. Today the
band performs several times a week at the museum,
and at certain official ceremonies, and is a reminder
of former Ottoman glory.The band has its own distinctive
marching step, whose rhythm is that of the words,
Gracious God is good. God is compassionate.
The mehter band marches behind the commander of
the band or çorbacıbaşı, who wears a headdress known
as üsküf. After him to his left and right respectively
march the bearers of the white and red standards,
the latter with an armed guard. Behind these march
nine plume bearers three by three, the ‘plume of
attack’ positioned behind the red standard. Then
comes the band master in the centre, and behind
him the çevgâns (jingling instruments in the form
of a crescent), zurnas, trumpets, nakkares (small
kettledrums beaten with the hands or two sticks),
cymbals, davuls (bass drums) and finally the kös
drums (giant kettledrums) played on horseback. |
The mehter band members form a crescent to perform, and
play standing except for the nakkare players, who sit crosslegged
at the righthand tip of the crescent, followed anticlockwise
by the zurnas, bass drums, cymbals and trumpets. When they
march, the band members pause every three steps and turn
to right and left in salutation, in a rhythm set by the
drums, chanting Rahim Allah, Kerim Allah (Merciful
God, Gracious God). In former centuries the mehter band
used to play even at night on the battlefield to prevent
the camp guards from falling asleep.
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As well as the instruments already mentioned, a
full mehter band could also include two types of
zurna (cura and kaba), kurrenay (a kind of horn
with a curved end), mehter whistle, clarinet-type
wind instruments, tabl, tambourine and other percussion
instruments.
The mehter bands were primarily military bands,
and those under the command of generals included
war drums over one metre in height known as harbî
kûs or kös. These were carried on camels, and playing
them with sticks demanded great skill. The 17th
century writer Evliya Çelebi wrote, Each kûs
is the size of a bathhouse dome. They are played
on feastday nights and days and their sound is like
thunder.
During performances the kös drums were placed
in a line on the ground in the centre of the circle
of musicians, and when marching they were loaded
in pairs onto camels. The drummer rode and struck
the drums to his right and left by turn. The kös
was only ever played by royal mehter bands, or in
that of the commander-in-chief leading the army
in lieu of the sultan when on campaign.
Each set of players had a leader known as ağa.
The leader of the bass drum players was called the
başmehter ağa, and the master of the entire band
was called the mehterbaşı ağa. All the ağas and
the çevgân players wore white turbans wound around
a kavuk (cap), a red coat over a yellow robe and
red trousers, a shawl wound around the waist and
yellow leather shoes. The other musicians were similarly
dressed, except that their kavuks and coats were
dark blue.
As the Ottomans advanced westwards
into Europe, many elements of mehter music influenced
western composers, particularly in the 17th century.
Later Mozart and Haydn composed music inspired by
mehter music, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony’s use
of the kös, bass drum and zurna in the last movement
is another striking example. Mozart, Bizet and many
other composers produced alla Turca pieces.
The military mehter bands symbolised the sovereignty
of the Ottoman state, and their powerful stirring
music had a spirit which we can still appreciate
today when listening to the museusin mehter band
playing this sound out of the past.
- Source:
- Sky Life- By Ilhan AKBULUT
- See also:
 Photos
of Mehter ceremony in Gülşehir
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