Historical Background and Summary
The Mehter band was used by the Ottoman Empire in their conquests of the Balkans and up into Europe in their wars of expansion. Their primary use was for keeping rhythmical uniformity in the marching patterns of the Sultan's armies. Also, headed by the already feared Janissary corps, another historical use for the Mehter band was for the purpose of intimidation; to instill fear in their foes by the use of dense instrumentation and percussion.
Selection: Ceddin Deden Artar |
This is a recording of the Mehter selection, Ceddin Deden Artar, downloaded from the public domain off an informational page on the Mehter march on Facebook. (Being used in compliance with the U.S. Fair Use Doctrine as it's used in a school-related, non-profit manner)
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Instrumentation of the Ottoman Mehter March
The Ottoman Mehter band included a range of instruments which focused primarily on percussive instruments and winds. As far as percussion, in a broad sense, instruments which would be insluded into a Mehter march would be those such as cymbals, davul drums, kös drums (giant kettle drums), nakkare drums (smalland also çevgâns, which were shingles of metal (usually in the shape of a crescent) which hanged from a pole and clanged against each other to create "noise". Typical wind instruments included the zurna and trumpets.
Based on the sounds and instruments which can be heard in the recording, one can conclude that the instrumentation of this particular Mehter march, Ceddin Deden Artar, included the zurna, the instrument oboe-like in tone, as well as the percussion instruments of the davul drum and the nakkare drum.
Zurna Instrument |
The zurna was probably the most recognizable instrument in the Ottoman musical inventory. This instrument is related to the Medieval-Renaissance shawn, which was a precursor to the modern oboe. Their similarity apparent when listening to it, as on the recording, one can hear it is a reed instrument similar in tone color to the oboe.
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Meter and Rhythmical Analysis of the Ottoman Mehter March
The Ottoman Mehter march is known for its heavily accentuated rhythmical continuo, almost always in the drum line, which repeats the same beat accentuation pattern throughout the course a Mehter musical selection. This serves to highlight a key purpose of the Mehter, which was to keep each soldier marching uniformly in sync with the others.
In Ceddin Deden Artar, the meter is duple-simple. Having been made to march to, it would be obvious that the piece would have a rhythm which is walked to. The emphasis of certain beats in this particular piece can be seen in the diagram below as heard in the recording.
In Ceddin Deden Artar, the meter is duple-simple. Having been made to march to, it would be obvious that the piece would have a rhythm which is walked to. The emphasis of certain beats in this particular piece can be seen in the diagram below as heard in the recording.
Here is the rhythmical continuo of the Mehter piece Ceddin Deden Artar. As a military march, the rhythm is a left-right-left march-resembling musical pattern, as its most accentuated beats are one, two and three, hit by the larger Davul and Kös drums, while the sixteenth-eight pattern is played only by the smaller Nakkare drums.
Tonality of the Ottoman Mehter March
The tonality of marches is generally a major key. The selection Ceddin Deden Artar, however, is in a minor key. In the diagram below one can see the main motif in the march and its corresponding key signature, highlighted in a light orange. There are, apart from those notes established by the key signature, a series of accidentals (naturals) which occur in the melody. Making an inventory of the notes in the piece, in all, there are the notes (in ascending order) D♮, D♯, G♮, G♯, A♯, and B♮. Given this, one can then conclude that this in the relative harmonic minor of the key of B major, which makes this piece in the key of G♯ minor.