Kardeş Türküler

Kardeş Türküler (translated either as Brotherly Songs or as Ballads of Fraternity) is a contemporary Turkish ethnic/folkloric band. It was formed in 1993 with a series of stage performances given by the music branch of the Folklore Club at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Origins

The diverse ethnic groups in this ancient Anatolia region and the Balkans initially gave cause for the concerts to have artists perform interpretations of Anatolian folksongs in Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian.^[1] Under the auspices of the Boğaziçi Performing Arts Ensemble (BGST), formed in 1995, the program used the concert stage to advance the ideals of common ancestry and celebration of diversity as a foil to cultural polarization and ethnic tension. Eventually, the musical heritage of the Laz, Georgian, Circassian, Romani, Macedonian and Alevi cultures were all incorporated into the program. The scholarly collection and research of the diverse folklore traditions of the region is an important part of BGST’s activities, but Kardeş Türküler has been intent on forging its own music tradition as well.

Members

The following members have made major contributions to Kardeş Türküler:

• Aytekin Gazi Ataş
• Burak Korucu
• Burcu Yankın
• Burcu Yıldız
• Diler Özer
• Evren Bay
• Emin Çiftçi
• Erol Mutlu
• Fehmiye Çelik
• Feryal Öney
• İlkem Balseçen
• Neriman Güneş
• Nevzat Çelebi
• Ozan E. Aksoy
• Özgür Akgül
• Soner Akalin
• Selda Öztürk
• Şenay Karaman
• Şirin Özgün
• Tolgahan Çoğulu
• Ülker Uncu
• Vedat Yıldırım
• Yücel Balım

Discography

• Hardasan (Songs of Azerbaijan), released in October 1996

Feryal Öney sings with the accompaniment of Azerbaijani musicians.

• Kardeş Türküler, released in June 1997

Debut album of the group with a repertoire of songs representing various musical traditions rooted in Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

• Doğu (The East), released in July 1999

Focus on traditions from the eastern part of the region.

• Roj û Heyv, released in January 2000

Şivan Perwer - 'Roj û Heyv' was conceived as an album marking Şivan Perwer's twenty fifth year as an artist, and contains his traditional songs. Based on some basic musical forms of the Kurdish region, it contains the melodic, vocal and rhythmic characteristics of the "stran" of various areas. An attempt was made to embellish upon the characteristic aspects of Kurdish music, based sometimes on local vocal styles and the modal structure of the music, at times on the ways of expression and imagery in the spoken language, which differs from region to region, and at other times on the songs' literary background. In his vocal styles, Perwer too is grounded on this regional diversity, and at times uses theatrical interpretation.

When one considers the possibilities provided by the arrangement of traditional songs, interpreting this music anew with an experimental approach involves a certain "risk," and also requires a different concept of it. The only possible way to come up with an answer to the "tension in the relationship between the authentic and experimental (and avant-garde)" is with a clearly defined musical concept, even if only a basic outline of one. This argument is definitely an issue for Roj û Heyv, and is the reason behind the use of experimental interpretations.

• Vizontele (film soundtrack), released in January 2001

A popular film directed by Yılmaz Erdoğan and Ömer Faruk Sorak.

• Hemâvâz, released in December 2002

Emphasizing cultural commonalities amidst diversity.

• Vizontele Tuuba (film soundtrack), released in January 2004

The 'Vizontele' and 'Vizontele Tuuba' film music projects provided an opportunity for Kardeş Türküler to make use of the experiences gained through work with the music and cultures of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, in the area of film. Rather than 'turning the atmosphere of the film to sound', the function of the music would be to complete the film with its own narrative style. Thus, the music, instead of merely reinforcing/emphasizing the meaning of the scenes could, as an atmosphere in itself, forge a path toward the 'reestablishment' of the visuals. For this reason, we consider it a more correct approach to design the film-music relationship as that of two autonomous elements observing each other. The soundtracks for 'Vizontele' and 'Vizontele Tuuba' have been created with this perspective.

• Bahar, released in May 2005

• Çocuk 'H'Aklı, released in April 2011

• Tencere Tava Havası (Sound of Pots and Pans),^[2] released in June 2013

A street performance as a criticism of Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan's response to ongoing passive protests involving people banging silverware to pans and pots.

References

External links

• Kardeş Türküler website
• (Turkish) Bogazici Performing Arts Ensemble