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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 (kettledrum) 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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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