Lalezar Ensemble

The Lalezar Ensemble is a musical ensemble which performs Ottoman classical music. It is based in Istanbul, and is "spearheading" the revival of Ottoman music.[1]

Female vocalist Selma Sagbas stands in for the male castrati that was traditional from the 16th-19th centuries while the kanun, a Turkish board zither, is also featured.[2]

Releases

They released a four volume series on the Traditional Crossroads label:

  • Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 1 - Sultan Composers
Consisting of songs and pieces composed by imperial sultans, including Murad IV, Selim III, and Mehmed VI, over five centuries.[3]
  • Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 2 - Music of the Dancing Boys
Consisting of songs sung originally sung by köçek dancers, cross-dressed young male entertainers.[4]
  • Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 3 - Minority Composers
Consisting of songs and pieces composed by Armenian, Greek, and Jewish composers, including relatively recent pieces.[5]
  • Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 4 - Ottoman Suite
Consisting of a suite, or fasil, constructed improvisatorily from different compositions all in the mode, or makam, Segâh, followed by a few examples of sarki.[6]

In collaboration with Lalezar, Armenian-American musician Harold Hagopian spent three years to mix, annotate, and package the four volume series, causing the ensemble to increase their repertoire of pieces by Armenian composers.[7]

Sources
  1. "Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 4 - Ottoman Suite", AllMusic.com.
  2. "Lalezar: Music of the Sultans, Sufis & Seraglio, Vol. 2 - Music of the Dancing Boys", AllMusic.com.
  3. "Lalezar - Music of the Sultans, Sufis, and Seraglio Vol. I - Sultan Composers", TraditionalCrossroads.com.
  4. "Lalezar - Music of the Sultans, Sufis, and Seraglio Vol. II - Music of the Dancing Boys Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine", TraditionalCrossroads.com.
  5. "Lalezar - Music of the Sultans, Sufis, and Seraglio Vol. III - Minority Composers", TraditionalCrossroads.com.
  6. "Lalezar - Music of the Sultans, Sufis, and Seraglio Vol. IV - Ottoman Suite", TraditionalCrossroads.com.
  7. (Jul 7, 2001). Billboard, Vol. 113, No. 27.

Further reading
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