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| CANTEMIR : Music in Istanbul and Ottoman Europe around 1700 | 
 enlarge | Creators: Amy / Ozgen, Mesut / Johannesson, Lars Brodo, Dimitrie Cantemir, Lou Harrison, Ben Jonson, Jean-baptiste Lully, Lux Musica, Marin Marais, Ihsan Ozgen, Ihsan / Burman-hall, Linda Ozgen, Ihsan / Johannesson, Lars Ozgen, John (i) Playford, Thomas Shaw, Moldavian Traditional, Yalcin Tura, Lars Johannesson, Linda Burman-hall, Amy Brodo, David Wilson
Label: Golden Horn Records
Category: Music
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $15.00
You Save: $0.99 (6%)
Buy New/Used from $13.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (3 reviews)
Sales Rank: 170437
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 634015041927
EAN: 0634015041927
ASIN: B0001CVE8E
Release Date: January 30, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Syrba - Moldavian Dance | | • | Syrba - Moldavian Dance | | • | Beraber Taksim - Collective Improvisation | | • | Zhok de Nante - Moldavian Dance | | • | Ostropesul - Moldavian Dance | | • | Syrba with Taksim - Moldavian Dance | | • | Bestenigar Taksim - Improvisation | | • | Pesrev in makam Bestenigar - Dimitrie Cantemir | | • | Tanbur Taksimi - Improvisation (tanbur solo) | | • | Saz Semaisi in makam Neva / usul aksak semai (10/8) - Dimitrie Cantemir | | • | Saz Semaisi in makam Rast / usul aksak semai - Dimitrie Cantemir | | • | Syrbas - Moldavian Dances | | • | Kemence Taksimi - Improvisation (kemence solo) | | • | In Honor of Prince Kantemir - Lou Harrison | | • | Beraber Taksim - Collective Improvisation | | • | Andante (from Concertino per Kemance, Violino Picolo 5 Instruments, 'In Honor of Kantemiroolu', 2000) - Yalcin Tura | | • | A Turkish Air (Travels and Observations, 1738) Thomas Shaw (1694-1751) | | • | Marche a la Turque (Pieces de viole, Book V, 1725) Marin Marais (1656 - 1728) | | • | Marche pour la ceremonie des Turcs (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, 1670) J-B. Lully (1632 - 1687) | | • | The Turks' dance (Augurs, 1622) Ben Jonson (1572/3 - 1637) | | • | New metar (The Dancing Master, 1665) John Playford (1623 - 1686) | | • | Rast Taksim - Collective Improvisation | | • | Pesrev in makam Rast / usul berefsan (16/8) Dimitrie Cantemir | | • | Zhok de Nante - Moldavian Dance | | • | Pencgah Taksim - Improvisation (kemence solo) | | • | Saz semaisi in makam Pencgah / usul aksak semai (10/8) - yueruek semai (6/8) - Bulgariaska (Floria 16) - yueruek semai (6/8) - aksak semai (10/8) Dimitrie Cantemir and Moldavian Dance | | • | Hueseyni Taksim - Collective Improvisation (kemence, baroque flute) | | • | Pesrev in makam Hueseyni - Dimitrie Cantemir | | • | Buselik Taksim - Collective Improvisation | | • | Pesrev in makam Buselik / usul devr-i-revan (14/16) Dimitrie Cantemir |
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| Customer Reviews:
 Cantemir, Great Sultan, Louis XIV and Peter the Great July 30, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Firstly, I want to thank Lux Musica and Ihsan Ozgen for recording such a beautiful exquisite album.
Moldavian prince Dmitrie Cantemir stood on cross-roads between the West, Russia and the Orient on the turning point of history - end of the 17th - beginning of 18th centuries. Philosopher, musician and musicologist, orientalist and politician - charismatic and interesting person.
Ihsan Ozgen and Lux Musica decided not to re-create authentic Turkish folk sound of Kantemir`s music, but to incorporate fantastic sound of Turkish string instrument kemence, which reminds crying human voice, and other Turkish instruments into the European ensemble Lux Musica (flute, violin, viola, lute, early guitar, percussion, harpsichord, virginal). Idea is to present the music by Kantemir as synthesis of European and Oriental cultural traditions, to imagine real concerts of his daughter Maria (who played harpsichord) in the court of Peter the Great in Russia, and to describe the cultural context of Kantemir`s music.
You would hear music by Kantemir himself, European "Turkish" style melodies of the 17th century by Lully (melody for famous play by Moliere "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme"), Marin Marais, Ben Johnson, Moldavian folk dances - so this programme wouldn`t be boring for you. I don`t agree with the previous reviewer - to listen to whole CD of authentic Turkish material - it`s a real hard work for European, Russian or American lover of classical music. That`s why I think that Ihsan Ozgen and Lux Musica were right.
So listen to this beautiful music and read a good novels by modern writers devoted to problems of relationships between Orient and Occident - try works by Amin Maalouf, Orhan Pamuk, Milorad Pavic.
Very beautiful album!
P.S. Addition to the text in the booklet. There stated that "Kantemir betrayed Sultan". Let`s be objective - history was more sophisticated. Don`t forget that Kantemir lived in Istanbul as the hostage to guarantee the loyalty of his native Moldavia to the Ottoman Empire. As he wrote in his memoirs, when he was selected by the Sultan to be a ruler of Moldavia, he was informed that he should make a "gift" to the Court - to pay a sum of money. And the sum of this "gift" was very high. Kantemir understood that he should raise the taxes in Moldavia to collect this money. So the choice was - to betray Sultan or to betray his native people. Ruler of Vallachia (modern Romania) sent a letter to Kantemir and invited him to join the revolt of the Orthodox Christians against the Ottoman rule. They secretly asked Tzar Peter the Great to help them. But when the Russian troops started their expedition, Vallachian ruler, who provoked Kantemir, informed Sultan about this revolt and of course rejected to participate in it. So Kantemir in 1711 had no other choice than to join Russian troops and after the unglorious end of this expedition (there were no any revolt) - Kantemir with his family fled to Russia. His life was saved by Peter the Great, because Ottoman powers demanded to return Kantemir to them (of course he would be killed) as condition of peace treaty with Russia.
His son Antoich became Russian poet and diplomate. In Paris he was close to writers and poets of the French Enlightenment.
 Worth exploring, but... August 6, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you're coming to this out of curiosity, rather than as an Ottoman music fan, you may be more pleased with this disk than I was.
The best compositions here are those of Cantemir, the master himself. The folk dances are interesting, but they aren't on the same level of refinement. Cantemir was at the peak of a learned tradition. The juxtaposition with folk material might be justified if Cantemir had drawn on it for his compositions, but that's not the case; we're simply told that the peasants back near Cantemir's home in what is now Romania were playing these dances while Cantemir was off in Constantinople playing his stuff for the sultan. And the point is...? I would have preferred a disk purely of Cantemir pieces.
The music is well played, but I'm not totally sold on the mixture of eastern and western instruments. Obviously, it isn't authentic, but that isn't the problem; sometimes the mixture of instruments just doesn't work. One glowing exception is the neva saz semai, where the tanbur and harpsichord blend quite nicely.
Don't get me wrong; it's worth a listen. But if you already know the Ottoman classical tradition and some of Cantemir's works, be sure you know that you're getting an experimental "fusion" disk, not something traditional.
Excellent March 27, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This CD finally opens the long forgotten bridge to the early Ottoman music. Although in recent albums (for example, in "Dream of the Orient" by Concerto Koln and Sarband) there are some fine examples of Cantemir's work, this single album is fully dedicated to him.The examples are carefully chosen to present early Ottoman and Cantemir's own music. The addition of the music from the composers of the West (some are recent, in honor of Cantemir), showing the influence of the Turkish music, is very nice and complementary. Cantemir, as might be known, is the first musician/traveler/diplomat (and later a trouble maker) from Romania, who recorded the Ottoman music while he was living in the Ottoman lands for near twenty years. Followed by composers such as Fux, Mozart, J. and M. Haydn brothers, Beethoven, Gluck, Rossini and many others, the Turkish music, its musical instruments (drums, cymbals and triangle, etc.) and themes became the most influential regional effect on the Western classical music for a few centuries. A CD that should not be missed.
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