Descargar MP3 –> “Bohemia Al-Andalus”
. . . con la colaboración especial de Joaquín Sánchez Gil (clarinete) Mel M’Rabet (laúd) Richard Dudanski (batería) Paul Brundtland (cajón)
In my application for the Fulbright Scholarship, I wrote “My hope is that this project will show how music can bring together different groups of people, promote mutual understanding and encourage intercultural collaboration.” Although I do believe that music can be used as a force for positive social change, I also realize that rhythms and melodies can also be used to divide and conquer. This song admits and explores the historical connection between music and war. [canyon]
The world’s first military band was developed by the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century. Known as Mehter, the Ottoman marching band featured large kettle drums and loud, shrill horns called zurnas. The purpose of the band was not only to keep the marching armies organized, but also to instill fear in their enemies, who could hear the infamous Mehter from a great distance annoucing the imminent arrival of the powerful Ottoman army.
The Ottoman Empire became the world’s superpower in 1453 after conquering the former Byzantine capital Constantinople, which they renamed Istanbul. The Ottoman military expansion continued unimpeded until 1683, when a failed attack on Vienna marked the beginning of the end for the once-mighty Ottoman Empire.
As part of the celebratory festivities surrounding the signing of the peace accord which ended the Austro-Turkish War in 1699, the Mehter military band performed a series of concerts in Europe that had great influence over contemporary classical composers of the time, most notably Mozart’s sonata “Rondo alla Turca” and Beethoven’s Opus 113 “Marcha Turca.”
Only nine years prior (and not too far from Vienna), Johann Christian Denner found himself frustrated with the limited range of the old French chalumeau, a primitive horn which could only produced 9 tones. As a result of his tinkering, the German musician invented the world’s first clarinet in 1690. Despite its relatively late incorporation into the orchestra, the clarinet quickly established itself as the instrument of choice for classical composers such as Mozart, Brahms and Weber.
By the 19th century, the Ottoman army had suffered a series of military defeats that left the once-mighty empire in shambles. In 1826, the new sultan Mahmut II dissolved and radically reformed the Ottoman army, including the Mehter military band. European armies had incoporated many of the elements that once gave the Ottoman military its advantage, including the marching band, but built upon the Ottoman model and had since designed more effective armies with more efficient marching bands.
To modernize the Mehter, the new sultan hired the Italian composer Giuseppe Donizetti, brother of opera composer Gaetano, to establish and direct a new military band in the Western style. Donizetti replaced the traditional Mehter instruments such as the zurna [pictured below] with newer European instruments such as the clarinet.
Although there are various similar instruments in Arab music, the clarinet is much more common today in Turkish music. While keeping in mind that most Turks are not Arab, certain Arab instruments such as the ‘ud remain popular in Turkey.
After being introduced to the military band, the clarinet grew in popularity and soon became common in Turkish pop music, especially amongst the Gypsy population. There is evidence of Gypsies living in Turkey since before the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, when they Byzantine city was renamed Istanbul.
Today, Turkey has the largest Gypsy population of in the entire world (2-5 million), which includes the most popular clarinet players such as Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Selim Sesler y Mustafa Kandirali.
This song was grew from a seed produced by a live concert performed in Granada by the Ensemble in 2008 in the Albaicín, el antiguo barrio musulmán de Granada. Al-Tarab is a group of Moroccan musicians directed by Uzman Almerabet who perform tradition music from across the Arab world. As part of my research project, I recorded their live shows and studied with Uzman. We produced the skeleton of our song “Bohemia Al-Andalus” with the Akai MPC 2000XL, looping a brief sample from Al-Tarab’s ‘ud played by Mel M’Rabet. We later added live percussion played by Richard Dudanski and Paul Brundtland, but it wasn’t until we met Joaquín Sánchez that this songs really found its soul. After hearing it only once, Joaquin began to improvise over the beat, bending the notes of his clarinet with a Arab touch that left us boquiabiertos. [canyon]
Joaquín Sánchez Gil
Clarinete / “Bohemia Al-Andalus” / Granada Doaba
–> también miembro de los grupos
LALOLA (rumba gamberra) y CIRCO ACUSTICO (jazz global)
*** VIDEO : Joaquín Sánchez y Circo Acustico balconada en Placeta de San Gregorio (Granada, 26 octubre 2008)
*** VIDEO : Joaquín Sánchez - “Chorinho Brasileiro” en la audición de final de curso de la Escuela de Música de Armilla (Granada, 26 de junio 2008)