Artists
who's who and who's doing what?Janet & Jak Esim Ensemble
Line up
- Bülent Ortacgil (acoustic guitar)
- Erkan Ogur (fretless classical guitar, tanbura)
- Herman Heder (classical guitar, vocals)
- Jak Esim (classical guitar)
- Janet Esim (vocals)
- Murat Özbey (percussion)
- Nezih Yesilnil (upright bass)
- Yahya Dai (saxophone, flute)
- country:Turkey
- style(s):Sephardic Contemporary
- label:Kalan Music
- type:Band
- instrumentation:vocal
- artist submitted by:
JEWISH MUSIC
When mentioning the music of Istanbulian Jews, maybe the first tunes that come to mind are the original musical pieces which are maybe the foremost part of the rich cultural heritage that Sepharad Jews have brought to Istanbul. Besides those, the music of the Jewish community Karays and the European Ashkenaz Jews who were living in Istanbul even before the Sepharads immigrated there can be mentioned.
The beginning of the development period of the Sepharad songs and romances dates back to twenty centuries B.C. This Jewish music of religious songs and hymns is heavily influenced by Spanish Jews. Romances, which have become a lasting tradition in all Spanish speaking countries, also became a part of the Sefarads living in Spain for a long time. Therefore Sefarad music can be divided into two categories:
Religious and nonreligious.
RELIGIOUS MUSIC:
The roots of the religious music of the Jews who settled in Istanbul date back to the music performed in temples in the earliest times of Hebrew history. The songs performed in temples during rituals were uniphonic songs of varying rhythms, composed without strictly defined rules. The "hizum", the hymns that the Jews sang on special religious days, are still sung by various communities that held no communication with each other for centuries. These hymns which are sung in rituals like Rosh Ashana, Selihot Kipur and Tesabeay, are purely harmonious tunes.
In religious music, no instruments are used. In the temple rituals at the time of Prophet Solomon, a kind of pipe called "hasasra", a kind of organ called "magrefa" and a cymbal called "zilcal" (which quite resembles today's orchestra cymbals) were used. Besides these, Jews would also use instruments that were common in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and various Asian countries. Of all these instruments, only a large organ called "nevel", a sort of guitar called "kinnor", a sort of horn called "halil" and a pipe made of ram's horn called "shofar" have survived to this day. Just like in all synagogues, shofar is played in Istanbul's synagogues too in the special religious days of Rosh Ashana and Kipur in the month of September of the Jewish calender.
One of the most important aspects of the music of the Istanbulian Jews is the way the Torah is read aloud. Chosen texts from the Torah are sang aloud every Saturday, in accordance with a primitive notation technique which is based on certain symbols written above letters. The music of the Saturday rituals is called "hazan", which consists of melodious improvisations with lyrics in Hebrew. Though many kinds of tune systems are used in the Istanbul synagogues, the most common ones are hicaz, rast, suzinak, huezzam, hueseyni, saba, acemasiran and nihavent. During the hazan improvisations, the "hizums" which originate from the Jewish music culture are sung, as well as prayers like milha, arvid, avdala musav and shahrid which are sung in accordance with the Istanbul classical music culture. The texts of these prayers are in Hebrew, but some rare parts are sung in the special language of the JudeoSpanish religious rituals.
The most famous hazans of religious music in recent history are Izak Algazi (18891950) and Izak Machoro (born in Istanbul in 1918). Izak Algazi is considered the most important hazan of the Sepharad world. Algazi had composed songs meant to be sung by choirs called "Maftirim", recorded some of the religious tunes sung in synagogues, songs and odes in vinyll, and had also made many songs in the tradition of Turkish classical music. Machoro, one of the prominent hazans of the Istanbul Jewish community, has become a master of maftirims. He took singing lessons from Alice Rosenthal and became the hazan master of the prominent Istanbul synagogues. Machoro, who has also worked in foreign countries at times, has many records. He is one of the biggest masters ever of the Istanbul Jewish music; singing the Torah texts called Perasha in an original way, handling the transition between tunes masterfully and being a master of improvisation.
Maftirims and peeks are quite prominent in religious music. These are melodious choir tunes that resemble oratorios. Maftirims are sung by choirs on Saturdays before the evening prayers. The maftirim tradition has appeared in Edirne 300 years ago and has developed in Istanbul, surviving to this day. Mevlevi music has played an important role in the birth and the development of this musical style. Among the maftirims lyricists and composers who were influenced by the Mevlevis are Izrael Navar (15551625), Shemtov Shikar (18401920), Simon Aftalyon (18. century), Yomtov Hazar, Simon Aaron Yoel, Izak Algazi, Rav Haim Biceraro, Moiz Kordova (20. century), Kemal Abiyatov, Izak Varon, David Behar and Izak Machoro. Just like maftirim, "perek" is also sung on Saturday evenings, especially during Saturdays between the religious festivals of Pesah and Shavuot. It is a totally Istanbulian tradition. This tradition is also heavily influenced by Turkish classical music. Some songs of Muslim Turkish composers have been adapted to perek series. In both the maftirims and the pereks, the lyrics are in Hebrew. In both styles, the music begins with a choir member going on solo improvisation (taksim), followed by other choir members joining in and singing a series of songs of the same tune system. The music ends with another solo improvisation. David Behar, the last representative of the traditional harmonious Istanbul Jewish religious music has passed the conduct of his choir of 15 to David Sevi a few years ago.
NONRELIGIOUS MUSIC:
These JewishSpanish tunes are romances and songs brought from Spain. The romances are sung in all Spanish speaking countries. A very interesting combination of the traditional Jewish music and Spanish romances were formed before the arrival of Turkish Jews to Istanbul. There are many similarities between Spanish romances and Sefarad romances. However the songs called the "kantikaz" are more heavily influenced by the Mediterranian, Byzantian and Ottoman cultures of Istanbul, Thrace and Izmir. Both the folk songs and the romances have been studied by many ethnomusicologists and scholars. Thanks to the compilation works of scholars, these songs that have been passed orally from generation to generation are now being rediscovered. More than 3000 romances and songs have been compiled so far. Though the Sepharad music is based on tunes, the ethnomusicologists have written down their compilations in accordance with the Western even spaced series, which has caused them to be performed by Western performers in different ways than their authentic forms.
The special songs sung by choirs during weddings when the bride and the bridgegroom meet and during the ceremony were all tunes composed of "pizmonims" until the 19. century. Indeed, the recordings of such masters as Izak Algazi, Lion Algazi and Hayim Yapaci Efendi, as well as the way these songs are performed now, show that the authentic form of these songs were mak based. However the educational language of the Alliance Israelite schools that were common in the 19. century were French, and this caused a disconnection with the traditional culture. During this process, adopting the French culture became a privilege which caused the Sefarad music to be separated from the tune structure. The traditional musical structure was, with the influence of the Ashkenaz synagogue, replaced by the even spaced Western style. After the 1950s, the songs of the Istanbulian composer Shaposh Nik have come to be performed by keyboard instruments. Meanwhile, various keyboard instruments like the piano and the armonium have also been adopted by Jewish music. Today, the songs of this composer are often performed during the wedding ceremonies in the Neve Shalom Synagogue.
Folk songs have usually been preserved by women from generation to generation. These traditional songs have various themes. Though most of them are about love and courtship, some are about weddings, giving birth and pregnancy. There are sungs to be sung in hamams, and some are about workers, soldiers, festivals and immigration. Some are children's songs and lullabies. All of these hold an important place in folk music. In the songs compiled in Istanbul, the names of places like Cibali, Balat, Haskoey and Galata, which have been inhabited by the Jewish community, are often used. These songs which reflect a part of Istanbul folklore hold important clues to the life style of that period.
Of the songs and romances which have survived to this day, the lyricists of only a few are known and their tunes are totally anonimous. In various written documents, there are hundreds of lyrics with their tunes yet to be discovered.
Folk songs are usually played only by cymbalines and bendirs, though sometimes instruments like lutes, lavtas, tambourines, mandolas, mandolins, dulcimers and guitars are also used. Most of them consist of compound rhythms. Today, folk songs are not a living tradition but a musical genre which is only performed in mesres.
JAK ESIM Translation by Dost KOeRPE
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