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Crimean Tatar Classical Music of the Khanate Period

Crimean Tatar classical music of the Khanate period is an exquisite centuries-old musical system of Eastern Europe and the Crimean Peninsula, encompassing secular (court), religious-Sufi, and folk-Ashik musical traditions of the 15th–18th centuries.

Overview

The classical musical culture of the Crimean Khanate developed under the patronage of the Khans of the Giray dynasty and the high aristocracy in the Khan's Palace in Bakhchysarai and noble estates. For a long time (more than 200 years after the fall of the Crimean Khanate in the late 18th century and subsequent waves of emigration), this heritage remained forgotten, and its surviving fragments functioned primarily in the form of folklore. In the 21st century, thanks to researchers (in particular Dzhemil Karikov), it was proven that Crimean Tatar musical classics are an ancient tradition with its own school of composition and performance.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Three main directions:
  • Classical (court): secular in content, developed at the court of the Khans and in aristocratic palaces.
  • Religious-Sufi: developed in mosques, madrasas, and lodges (tekke) of Sufi brotherhoods (in particular Mevlevi), which served as the conservatories of that time.
  • Ashik: the creative work of folk poet-singers (ashiks), a prominent representative of which is Ashik Umer.
  • Prominent Khan-composers:
  • Bora Gazi Giray II: recognized as first among 16th-century Turkic composers, author of over 60 instrumental works and creator of 5 modes.
  • Haci Selim Giray I: Khan-patron, poet, and composer.
  • Choban Mustafa Ahmed Giray (son of Feth Giray).
  • Qirim Giray: patron of the arts and theater, who ordered a concert just hours before his death.
  • Military music and theater:
  • Use of instrumental ensembles in military campaigns (Afrasiyab trumpets, tambourines, kettledrums, banners and standards, bands of 7 musicians each).
  • Musical accompaniment of the shadow puppet theater (Karagöz).
  • Traditional instrumentation:
  • Wind: zurna, tulup-zurna, kaval, nay (ney), kamysh-kaval.
  • String: tanbur, oud, rebab, kamancheh, saz, santur.
  • Percussion: def, dare, dumbelek, davul.
  • Causes of decline and revival: The fall of the Khanate in 1783 led to a demographic and cultural crisis. The modern revival unfolds thanks to the publication of the work "Crimean Tatar Instrumental Music of the Khanate Period" (2007, compiled by Dzhemil Karikov).