On a lovely late-summer evening, 13 Thescorreans enjoyed a very different music experience: the marching band tunes of Mystic Mediterranean Rhythm of the Ottomans.
The one-hour concert – sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Center of Upstate New York (http://www.tccupstate.org/web/) –occurred on Friday, August 22, at the gazebo in Irondequoit.
Daedra and Dubheasa showed up first, followed soon after by Eric, Katja, and Katrina. We wondered about other Thescorreans we had or should have reminded about the performance, and laughed louder and louder every time someone magically popped up just as we mentioned their names! (The final attendance included Steffan, Juliana, Carlo, Dehka, Mairead, Phelan, Emily, and Alianora and a friend.) Sadly, we were not able to “summon” every member of the barony (Accio Thescorreans?) but it was a good turnout considering the short notice about the event.
The marching band, or Mehter, we learned, is considered to be the oldest form of marching band in the world, dating back to the time of the Janissaries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_military_band). This current troupe, Mehteran-ı Osmani, is on a world-wide tour.
The members were dressed mostly in bright red costumes, with two in complimentary bright green ones, and some incredibly tall hats. Two of the members were dressed in full mail with steel armor on top and bucklers strapped to their backs, standing at attention the entire performance with their hands on their curved swords.
Some of us were expecting more folkloric music, and were surprised to enjoy a much more martial sound as the 40-odd members of the troupe marched, sang, and played various drums – all with very serious, nigh austere expressions. With the exception of a brief introduction by a member of the Turkish Society, the entire performance was in the troupe’s native tongue and untranslated. (We noticed that we were among the very few non-Turkish gentles attending the performance.)
Even without recognizing most of the music or knowing the words (one song several of us did recognize was Uskudar, which we’ve drummed and bellydanced to), we thoroughly enjoyed the toe-tapping rhythm.
Once the performance was over, the organizers allowed the audience to come up and snap photos of the troupe – which the Turkish members of the audience did so immediately. We were delighted to see the smiling change in one of those oh-so-serious mailed warriors once a small child was plunked right into his arms!
Several Thescorreans approached the drummers and tried to learn, with hand gestures and their broken English, how they played the double-headed drums we learned were called nakkare and the larger frame drums called davul.
After the performance, most of us adjourned to “eating practice” at a nearby Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful late dinner together for several hours.
To see a YouTube video of the band performing elsewhere in the U.S., see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgXhckkHxiI.
By Katja |
