CSO: Notes on modern Turkey

by Sibel DORSAN

While there are now many classical orchestras in Turkey, the existence of a Presidential Symphony Orchestra remains a special symbol of Turkey’s nation-building process. Now that the summer festival season is over, October is an appropriate month in which to remember the orchestra’s illustrious past as well as to look forward to the varied season of music ahead.

It is not difficult to pick out the Republican Symphony Orchestra (CSO) as one of Ankara’s prime Republican institutions – a bold, post-independence, state-sponsored initiative designed to complement the new, modern nation state and promote compatible Western tastes and habits. Not for nothing was the Riyaseticumhur Philharmonic Orchestra – to give it its contemporary title - the first institution accorded the right to use the designation “presidential”. It gave its first concert in Ankara on March 11, 1924, eight days after the abolition of the caliphate, and moved its headquarters to Ankara, on a directive from President Atatürk the following month. Nevertheless the institution also has deep roots in the Ottoman modernisation efforts, and traces its history back almost another 100 years.

Ottoman origins

1826 was a turning point for polyphonic music in this country. For it was then that Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries in favour of a Western-style army. Concurrently, the Janissary Band and its mehter marches were to be replaced by a Western-style Imperial Band (Muzika-i Humayun). Two years later, the Italian Giuseppe Donizetti was appointed conductor, and before long the band was “achieving international standards”.

The Muzika-i Humayun became an umbrella for various groups of musical and stage performers from a women’s orchestra to an acrobatic troupe. But the preferences of the emperor remained paramount. Sultan Abdülmecit (1839-61) employed European musicians to teach members of the royal family to play their new French Erard pianos. He had operas and operettas performed, and Donizetti established an orchestra and chorus besides the original band. The Palace hosted concerts by famous names including Franz Lizst. But, many of these activities were abandoned during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876).

Sultan Murat V (1876) enjoyed both playing and listening to music. Sultan Abdülhamit (1876-1909), played piano with some skill, and delighted in Italian opera. Alla turca , he opined, was beautiful but inspired grief, whereas alla franca was full of joy. The band and orchestra were separated under different conductors. In 1919, the orchestra was to receive many accolades as it toured Sofia, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna and Budapest under Zeki Üngör.

Golden years

With the Republic, polyphonic music became a state policy. It left the confines of the Ottoman court and was offered to the general public in line with the Republican understanding of contemporary civilization and universal culture. The Musiki Muallim Mektebi (Music Teachers School) was set up in 1924, and the Conservatory in 1936. Regular concerts were supplemented by radio concerts. As an exhibition of Turkish products toured Europe by ship in 1926, the Orchestra performed concerts in Barcelona, Liverpool, London, Hamburg, Stockholm, Leningrad, Helsinki, Danzing, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Marseilles, Trieste, Venice, Batum and Varna.

Atatürk viewed folk music as Turkey’s authentic local music and sought to raise it to the international level. The path to be taken was “not the pure imitation of the West, but the application of the science and technique of the West to the national essence.” As of 1927, students were sent to Europe for musical education. Of these, composers Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Cemal Reşit Rey, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Ferid Anlar and Necil Kâzım Akses were later to be called the “Turkish Five”.

Another season…

Over the last five decades, the orchestra has represented the modern Turkey on international podiums on various occasions. Meanwhile, it has continued to pursue its mission of promoting polyphonic music to Turkish audiences from its hall on Talatpaşa Bulvarı (Tel 309 13 43) near Ulus. Live classical music has not always enjoyed the same support from the authorities as it received in the early Republican period and under some of the Ottoman sultans, and it remains very much a minority taste. But the fact that publicly-run orchestras have also been established in Istanbul (beginning with Rey’s municipal orchestra in 1945), Izmir, Cukurova, Antalya and Bursa, alongside a series of university and private sector orchestras, suggests that the efforts of the CSO have not been entirely in vain.

Top Turkish performers and a series of distinguished guest conductors and soloists will again perform with the CSO this year. Thursday and Friday nights are generally concert nights, and details and tickets are available one week in advance from the concert hall box office, from Dost Music Centre (Kızılay), from Diapason (Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi) or via www.mybilet.com. 

Traditional event

The orchestra has also come to specialise in traditional events like the Republic Day concert in October, which generally feature Turkish composers, the Atatürk memorial concert in November and the annual New Year concert in late December. This year’s Republic Day concerts take place on October 27 and 28 at 20.00. The orchestra will be joined by baritone Mesut İtku and the State Opera and Ballet and Ankara TRT Radio choirs for a series of folk song arrangements by Erkin and others, to be followed by a performance of Muammer Sun’s ‘Three Epics’.

(DIPLOMAT  -  October 2005  -  Ankara)