Arabesque music
Encyclopedia
Arabesque or Arabesk is a genre termed so by Turkish
musicologists for Arabic-style music created in Turkey. The genre was particularly popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades. Although melodies and rhythms are predominantly byzantine
and Arabic influenced, it also draws ideas from other aspects of Middle Eastern music
including Bağlama
music and Ottoman forms of riental. It continues to be played within Turkey in its purer form today, but its popularity has waned with younger people in more recent times; and it has tended to merge into, and be subsumed by, other genres such as latter-day Western dance music and Turkish pop music
.
Orhan Gencebay
is generally considered the founder of the genre (though he disagrees with the usage of the term). Other well known older singers are Müslüm Gürses
and Ferdi Tayfur
. One of the most prolific and commercially successful is İbrahim Tatlıses
, who broke all sales records in Turkey in 1978 and continues to turn out popular music to this day. He has maintained popularity in the Arabesk scene in recent years through remixing his tracks into dance friendly club tracks. The pure Arabesk album "Acıların Kadını" by the singer Bergen was the bestselling album in Turkey in 1986 and may be fairly labelled one of the classic albums of the genre. Bergen had several other hit Arabesk albums during the 1980s. Other singers include Gülben Ergen
, Ebru Gündeş
, Seda Sayan
, Sibel Can
. The singers Muazzez Ersoy
and Bülent Ersoy
designate themselves as modern exponents of Ottoman classical music
but much of their work can be labelled as Arabesk with softer beats, since the strings and vocal melodies sound Arabic—or arabesque.
Also Ajda Pekkan
's "Sen Mutlu Ol" (1981) and "Sevdim Seni" (1982) albums were effects of "pop-turns-arabesque" concept in early 80's. Also, Ajda Pekkan
's "Sarıl Bana", smash hit of 1993 from "Ajda '93" album, was a famous Arabesque-pop song.
page, the Turkish classical pianist Fazıl Say
gave as his opinion that Arabesque music is "third class, lives on pity, laziness, incapacity, uncertainty...", adding, "I am ashamed of Turkish people’s slimy arabesque." This sparked a controversy in which Say, conversely, was accused of being an "elitist snob".
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
musicologists for Arabic-style music created in Turkey. The genre was particularly popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades. Although melodies and rhythms are predominantly byzantine
Byzantine music
Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
and Arabic influenced, it also draws ideas from other aspects of Middle Eastern music
Middle Eastern music
The music of Western Asia and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, Southern Italy, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...
including Bağlama
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
music and Ottoman forms of riental. It continues to be played within Turkey in its purer form today, but its popularity has waned with younger people in more recent times; and it has tended to merge into, and be subsumed by, other genres such as latter-day Western dance music and Turkish pop music
Turkish pop music
Turkish pop music had its humble beginnings in the late 1950s with Turkish cover versions of a wide range of imported popular styles, including rock and roll, tango, and jazz...
.
Description and history
A very small percentage of Arabesk is exclusively instrumental. For the great majority of it, a singer lies at the center of the music. Male singers dominated the genre in its early years, but female singers probably predominated during its peak years of popularity. Simultaneously with the influx of female singers, the sound grew more dancey and upbeat.Orhan Gencebay
Orhan Gencebay
Orhan Gencebay is a Turkish musician, bağlama virtuoso, composer, singer, arranger, music producer, music director, and actor.-Early life and musical background:...
is generally considered the founder of the genre (though he disagrees with the usage of the term). Other well known older singers are Müslüm Gürses
Müslüm Gürses
Müslüm Akbaş , better known as Müslüm Gürses is a Turkish folk singer.He was born in 1953 in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. He married Muhterem Nur in 1983....
and Ferdi Tayfur
Ferdi Tayfur
Ferdi Tayfur is a Turkish arabesque singer, actor and composer. In recent years, he has also become popular in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Trinidad and Tobago, Syria and Iran...
. One of the most prolific and commercially successful is İbrahim Tatlıses
İbrahim Tatlıses
-References:...
, who broke all sales records in Turkey in 1978 and continues to turn out popular music to this day. He has maintained popularity in the Arabesk scene in recent years through remixing his tracks into dance friendly club tracks. The pure Arabesk album "Acıların Kadını" by the singer Bergen was the bestselling album in Turkey in 1986 and may be fairly labelled one of the classic albums of the genre. Bergen had several other hit Arabesk albums during the 1980s. Other singers include Gülben Ergen
Gülben Ergen
Gülben Ergen is a Turkish singer and occasional actress. She was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and has acted in films and on television. Her most famous role is probably that of Melek in Dadı, the Turkish version of The Nanny. She was named Miss Cinema 1987 and later by the help of her famous friends...
, Ebru Gündeş
Ebru Gündes
Ebru Gündeş is a Turkish pop-folk singer, actress, and television personality.- Early life :Ebru Gündeş went to primary school in Ankara. Moving back to İstanbul with her family afterwards, she had to discontinue her education due to financial hardship...
, Seda Sayan
Seda Sayan
Seda Sayan is a Turkish pop folk singer, actress and TV variety-show hostess. She performed in the comedy "Hababam Sınıfı 3,5" in 2006. She now hosts a very popular talk show on channel D in Turkey, which is called "Sabahların Sultanı". The last part of this talk show had been shown under the...
, Sibel Can
Sibel Can
Sibel Can is a popular Turkish folk pop singer.In recent years she has also become popular in Azerbaijan, Turkey,Sibel Can became a dancer at the age 14 and later started her singing career. She has been known as one of the most successful and powerful singers in Turkey...
. The singers Muazzez Ersoy
Muazzez Ersoy
Muazzez Ersoy , is a Turkish classical and folk singer.-Biography:Hatice Yıldız Levent was born on August 9, 1958 in Istanbul to Yaşar and Fatma Levent. Her family originally comes from a Black Sea town in Kastamonu. His father Yaşar was a taxi driver. She married in 1975, when she was just 17...
and Bülent Ersoy
Bülent Ersoy
Bülent Ersoy is a transgender Turkish celebrity and popular singer of Ottoman classical music. Over the years, Ersoy has become a symbol for the increased tolerance for LGBT figures in Turkish media....
designate themselves as modern exponents of Ottoman classical music
Ottoman classical music
Ottoman classical music developed in Istanbul and major Ottoman towns from Skopje to Cairo, from Tabriz to Morocco through the palace, mosques, and sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with a small instrumental ensemble...
but much of their work can be labelled as Arabesk with softer beats, since the strings and vocal melodies sound Arabic—or arabesque.
Also Ajda Pekkan
Ajda Pekkan
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed...
's "Sen Mutlu Ol" (1981) and "Sevdim Seni" (1982) albums were effects of "pop-turns-arabesque" concept in early 80's. Also, Ajda Pekkan
Ajda Pekkan
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed...
's "Sarıl Bana", smash hit of 1993 from "Ajda '93" album, was a famous Arabesque-pop song.
Criticism
Writing on his FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, the Turkish classical pianist Fazıl Say
Fazil Say
Fazıl Say , is a Turkish pianist and composer born in Ankara, Turkey.-Biography:Born in 1970 in Ankara, Turkey, Fazıl Say started playing the piano at the age of four. He continued his music training in Ankara State Conservatory as a student of Special Status for Highly Talented Children and...
gave as his opinion that Arabesque music is "third class, lives on pity, laziness, incapacity, uncertainty...", adding, "I am ashamed of Turkish people’s slimy arabesque." This sparked a controversy in which Say, conversely, was accused of being an "elitist snob".
See also
- KantoKanto (music)Kanto is a popular genre of Turkish music.-Terminology:Italian opera and theater had a profound effect on Turkish culture during the early 20th century. The terminology of music and theater derived from Italian...
- Balkan popBalkan popBalkan Pop is a mixture of traditional east European folk music and western dance music.-See also:*Chalga*Laïko*Manele*Turbo-Folk*Arabesque*Filmi...
- Byzantine musicByzantine musicByzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
- Turbo-folkTurbo-folkTurbo-folk is a popular musical sub-genre that originated in Serbia, the Balkans. Having mainstream popularity in Serbia, although closely associated with Serbian performers, its sound is as popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro...
- ChalgaChalgaChalga is a Bulgarian music genre. It is a blend of Arabic, Balkan, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish influences, as well as motives from flamenco, filmi and klezmer music...
- ManeleManeleManele is a music style from Romania, generally associated with the Romani minority, though not exclusively....
- SkiladikoSkiladikoSkiladiko , , is a derogatory term to describe laiko music or a so-called "decadent" form of laiko and it derives from the Greek for dog , meaning "dogish" or "doghouse", and the current nightclubs in Greece in which Greek folk music is performed...
- LaïkaLaikaLaika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
- Mizrahi musicMizrahi musicMizrahi music refers to the music integration that combines elements from Europe, the West, and Middle Eastern/North African countries transported to Israel by migrating Jews. It is usually sung in Hebrew, literary Hebrew and Arabic slang...
- FilmiFilmiFilmi is Indian popular music as written and performed for Indian cinema. Music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playback singers and it makes up 72% of the music sales in India....
- Longa (Middle Eastern music)Longa (Middle Eastern music)A longa is a genre in Turkish music that was adapted from the Romanian music, also influenced by the Byzantine music, with many elements of syrtos dance in the late 19th century...