The Ottoman Tanbur provides a detailed study of the history of this long-necked lute-like instrument, its role in Ottoman music, construction and playing technique. Tanburs are played in the art, Su fi , and folk musical traditions along the Silk Road and beyond. In Turkey, the name tanbur is mainly used as a name for the long-necked tanbur of Ottoman art music, the Ottoman tanbur. The origin and early development of the Ottoman tanbur is, notwithstanding its importance, still not fully understood due to the absence or scarcity of literary and iconographical sources, while well-preserved Ottoman tanburs are rare or non-existent. The book explores the political and cultural-historical conditions that contributed to the development of a distinct Ottoman Art music (Osmanli san'at musikisi) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the central place given to the tanbur. Thereafter, Ottoman art music and the Ottoman tanbur suffered from official neglect until the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and even rejection after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. This situation changed after the foundation of the first Turkish music conservatory in 1975 at the Istanbul Teknik UEniversitesi (ITUE). The revival of Ottoman art music since the 1990s resulted in a rehabilitation of Ottoman art music and of the Ottoman tanbur whose days had seemed to be numbered.

About the Author
Hans de Zeeuw began to take baglama lessons and became interested in its long and fascinating history while working at the Free University in Amsterdam and studying at the Open University. This led him to decide to break off his studies and focus, for many years, on research into the Turkish saz or baglama under the supervision of Dr Leo Plenckers of the Department of Musicology of the University of Amsterdam and Dr Okan Murat OEzturk of the Devlet Konservatuvari of the Baskent UEniversitesi in Ankara. His publications include Tanbur Long-Necked Lutes along the Silk Road and beyond (2019, Archaeopress) and The Turkish Long-Necked Lute Saz or Bag lama (2020, Archaeopress), both supervised by Dr Saskia Willaert of the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Brussels.


Book Information
ISBN 9781803271064
Author Hans de Zeeuw
Format Paperback
Page Count 168
Imprint Archaeopress Archaeology
Publisher Archaeopress
Weight(grams) 451g