Hasan Saltik
Encyclopedia
Hasan Saltık or Hasan Saltik in the West (born 1964, Tunceli, Turkey
) is a Turkish
record producer
. He is the 1991 founder of Kalan Müzik
, a Turkish independent record label
company based in Istanbul
specialized in releasing Saltık's recordings of traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and vicinity, sometimes against governmental opposition.
In 2003, Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of the international Prince Claus Awards
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". In 2004, he was called "The Anthropologist of Folk Music" by Time magazine
.
in southeast Turkey
, of a Turkish father (from Turkmen
roots) and a Kurdish
-Zaza
mother.Turgut, op. cit. At age 11, he moved with his family to Istanbul
. He went to music school but had to drop out in order to take jobs, and at age 19, he went to sea. At age 24, he came back to Istanbul and worked in his uncle's music shop. In 1991 (age 27), he founded Kalan Müzik
, and has operated it since.
and founded the independent record label
Kalan Müzik
, named after his natal town's pre-1936 name. Since then, he has been scouring Turkey and neighbouring regions to record traditional ethnic and folk music and release it on his label,PCA, op. cit. along with reissues of classic 78 rpm records of Turkish and Ottoman music. He also publishes modern acts, such as the controversial Grup Yorum
, or the popular Yansımalar
.
In 2003 (age 39), Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of Netherlands
's international Prince Claus Awards
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". The jury concluded, "Saltik founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide. He has conserved and promoted the musical heritage of the area th[r]ough establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings."
Saltık is also a member of the board of the MESAM (Türkiye Musiki Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği, the Musical Work Owners' Society of Turkey).
In September 2004, Time magazine
made a feature article about Saltık, "a rebel at heart", and his career, calling him "The Anthropologist of Folk Music".
(deeming them separatist), Saltık's work has been political as well as musical. He has been an activist for the right to disseminate minority musical genres, explaining, "Minorities are our biggest cultural asset; we should be protecting them and promoting them. […] I see it as my duty."
>
As of 2004, the governmental change after the 2002 elections
and the evolution of Turkey towards being a part of the European Union
had led to a normalization of relations between Saltık and officials, such as the Turkish Culture Ministry handing out Kalan
CDs to visiting dignitaries. This didn't entirely stop some indirect prosecutions:
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
) is a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He is the 1991 founder of Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes...
, a Turkish independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
company based in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
specialized in releasing Saltık's recordings of traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and vicinity, sometimes against governmental opposition.
In 2003, Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of the international Prince Claus Awards
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". In 2004, he was called "The Anthropologist of Folk Music" by Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
.
Life
In 1964, Hasan Saltık was born in Tunceli, a small town of AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
in southeast Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, of a Turkish father (from Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
roots) and a Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
-Zaza
Zaza people
The Zazas, Kird, Kirmanc or Dimilis are an ethnic Iranic people whose native language is Zazaki spoken in eastern Anatolia. They primarily live in the eastern Anatolian provinces, such as Adıyaman, Aksaray, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzurum, Erzincan , Gumushane, Kars, Malatya, Mus,...
mother.Turgut, op. cit. At age 11, he moved with his family to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. He went to music school but had to drop out in order to take jobs, and at age 19, he went to sea. At age 24, he came back to Istanbul and worked in his uncle's music shop. In 1991 (age 27), he founded Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes...
, and has operated it since.
Works
In 1991 (age 27), he became a record producerRecord producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and founded the independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes...
, named after his natal town's pre-1936 name. Since then, he has been scouring Turkey and neighbouring regions to record traditional ethnic and folk music and release it on his label,PCA, op. cit. along with reissues of classic 78 rpm records of Turkish and Ottoman music. He also publishes modern acts, such as the controversial Grup Yorum
Grup Yorum
Grup Yorum is a Turkish band known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum has released nineteen albums since 1987. Some of the group's concerts and albums were banned over the years, and some of the group members were arrested or tortured. Yorum remains popular and their albums continue to...
, or the popular Yansımalar
Yansimalar
-External links:Official sites - official website* at Kalan.comOther sites...
.
In 2003 (age 39), Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
's international Prince Claus Awards
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". The jury concluded, "Saltik founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide. He has conserved and promoted the musical heritage of the area th[r]ough establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings."
Saltık is also a member of the board of the MESAM (Türkiye Musiki Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği, the Musical Work Owners' Society of Turkey).
In September 2004, Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
made a feature article about Saltık, "a rebel at heart", and his career, calling him "The Anthropologist of Folk Music".
Activism
Because laws passed after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état banned songs in minority languages, especially in KurdishKurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
(deeming them separatist), Saltık's work has been political as well as musical. He has been an activist for the right to disseminate minority musical genres, explaining, "Minorities are our biggest cultural asset; we should be protecting them and promoting them. […] I see it as my duty."
- In 1992, a release of KurdishKurdish peopleThe Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
music sent Saltık to court, facing a three-year jail term; he escaped sentencing only because the prosecutor was a follower of his work. - In 1999, he was sentenced to one year of prison for "making propaganda for an illegal organization", but the sentence was later overturned by the Court of Cassation.
>
- In 2001, the Turkish Ministry for Industry and Trade tried to close his record company for distributing products as protests against the F-type prisons.
- In 2002, his music-publishing license was confiscated by the courts after he issued an old folk song that featured the word "Kurdistan", which is taboo in Turkey. The sentence was reversed a following an outcry. "It was ironic", says Saltık. "French, German or English songs were O.K., but music in our languages was banned."
As of 2004, the governmental change after the 2002 elections
Turkish general election, 2002
Turkey's 15th general election was held on November 3, 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party , led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote...
and the evolution of Turkey towards being a part of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
had led to a normalization of relations between Saltık and officials, such as the Turkish Culture Ministry handing out Kalan
Kalan Müzik
Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish independent record label company based in Istanbul. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes...
CDs to visiting dignitaries. This didn't entirely stop some indirect prosecutions:
- In February 2005, a court ordered the confiscation of the Kurdish album Keçe Kurdan by Aynur DoganAynur DoganAynur Doğan is a contemporary Kurdish singer and musician from Turkey. She was born in Çemişgezek, a small mountain town in Tunceli Province in southeastern Turkey. Her family fled to İstanbul in 1992 during the conflict between the Turkish military and the Kurdistan Workers Party...
, produced by Kalan; the confiscation was eventually lifted in November 2005.
External links
- Kalan.com (English) – Saltık's record label
- Photograph of Hasan Saltık in 2003 at the Prince Claus AwardsPrince Claus AwardsThe Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....