Horizon-series invitation to musical and cultural dialogue!
28 October 2023
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra invites top musicians in their own fields to enter into a musical and cultural dialogue in an intimate, chamber music concert setting.
The Gülistan Ensemble with Helsinki Philharmonic musicians will present works by women composers of Classical Ottoman Music who lived in Istanbul from the XVII.th century onwards. Among the most famous female composers of the palace, Reftar Kalfa, whose death is estimated in 1700, played the Tanbur (long-necked lute) and composed many instrumental works. Dilhayat Kalfa (born 1737), also a Tanbur player, whose hundreds of compositions have survived to the present day. She lived during the so-called Tulip Era in Ottoman history, this period could be described as the Ottoman Renaissance during which the Ottoman society became interested in Western culture. This period is symbolized by the musical gatherings around the palace and in the mansions of Istanbul, as well as by the curiosity to grow tulips, that is why called the "Tulip Era".
The works of women composers of the later years are also examples of the development of classical Ottoman music, as the court was keen on Western music and the palace ladies took piano and oriental music lessons, dressed and lived in the style of European courts. Leylâ Hanım, who lived between 1850 and 1936, was the maid of honour of Münire Hanım, the daughter of Sultan Abdülhamid, for seven years. She took piano lessons from Mademoiselle Romano, the palace piano teacher, but also Makam lessons from the master musicians of the time, Nikoğos Ağa and Asdik Ağa. A female composer of the same period, Mrs Kevser played the piano and violin and became famous for her well-known Nihavend longa, a symbol of the Eastern influence of Western music.
More recent examples of women composers include Faize Ergin, a pupil of Tanburi Cemil Bey who died in 1954, Neveser Kökdeş who lived between 1904 and 1962, Gevheri Osmanoğlu, the granddaughter of Sultan Abdül Aziz, who died in 1980.
PAAVO HALL, Musiikkitalo
6 PM
📷 Emre BaSak, Hasan Hüseyin Gunes, Ege Köprek
Gül Yazıcı, vocal
Neva Özgen, kemenche
Safinaz Rizeli, kanun
Kudsi Erguner, ney
Liam Mansfield, violin
Mariette Reefman, viola
Beata Antikainen, cello,
Tuomo Matero, double bass
Join us after the concert for a post-concert talk with the musicians moderated by postdoctoral researcher Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik from Uniarts Research Institute.
The Horizon concert series is a collaboration between HPO and MiklagardArts, and the programme is curated by Ceyda Berk-Söderblom.