Music
Cultural Exchange and the Insulation of Musical Traditions: The Ottoman Empire and Western Europe, 1600-1750
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Start Date
10-4-2015 9:15 AM
End Date
10-4-2015 10:00 AM
Sponsor
Nicholas Johnson (Butler University)
Description
The European Baroque was an era of substantial musical change - one of the most significant shifts being from a modal system to a tonal one. Rameau's 1722 Traité de l'harmonie clearly defined tonal organization, which had already been in practice in Europe for several decades. Alongside this development in Western music, the system of music used in the Ottoman Empire was also experiencing dramatic changes. Researchers such as Meyer and Bowles have tracked the perpetual exchanges between Europe and the Ottoman Empire during this time, which transcended almost all facets of society. However, current research fails to explain why each region maintained such a distinct style of musical organization.
I contend that despite the frequency and intensity of cultural interactions between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire between 1600 and 1750, music maintained a distinctly different role in each society, which insulated each region's system of musical structure and organization. Of note are several important musical exchanges, including the adoption of Western notation to preserve the Turkish repertoire and the appearance of "Janissary bands" in the courts of some German nobles. A discussion of the political and economic atmosphere during this time will outline the broader implications of the influence each culture had on the other. As purveyors of the Western music tradition, it is important for us to recognize how deeply the Ottoman Empire impacted Europe during the Baroque era, and appropriate to question why tonal music theory shows no remnants of Ottoman modal theory.
Cultural Exchange and the Insulation of Musical Traditions: The Ottoman Empire and Western Europe, 1600-1750
Indianapolis, IN
The European Baroque was an era of substantial musical change - one of the most significant shifts being from a modal system to a tonal one. Rameau's 1722 Traité de l'harmonie clearly defined tonal organization, which had already been in practice in Europe for several decades. Alongside this development in Western music, the system of music used in the Ottoman Empire was also experiencing dramatic changes. Researchers such as Meyer and Bowles have tracked the perpetual exchanges between Europe and the Ottoman Empire during this time, which transcended almost all facets of society. However, current research fails to explain why each region maintained such a distinct style of musical organization.
I contend that despite the frequency and intensity of cultural interactions between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire between 1600 and 1750, music maintained a distinctly different role in each society, which insulated each region's system of musical structure and organization. Of note are several important musical exchanges, including the adoption of Western notation to preserve the Turkish repertoire and the appearance of "Janissary bands" in the courts of some German nobles. A discussion of the political and economic atmosphere during this time will outline the broader implications of the influence each culture had on the other. As purveyors of the Western music tradition, it is important for us to recognize how deeply the Ottoman Empire impacted Europe during the Baroque era, and appropriate to question why tonal music theory shows no remnants of Ottoman modal theory.