OTTOMAN MILITARY BAND ISTANBUL
 Half Day Special Tour - Depart from Sultanahmet 
All Year Long Except Mondays & Tuesdays !

Welcome to the world of Ottoman military ! Here you will see & learn more about the Mehteran ( Ottoman military Band ) & the Ottoman military. You also will have a change to watch the Military Band Live!!

Ottoman military bands are the oldest variety of military marching band in the world. In modern Turkish, the band as a whole is often termed mehter takımı. Today, the music of the mehters is largely ceremonial.

It is believed that the first "mehter" was sent to Osman Gazi by the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin III as a present along with a letter that salutes the newly formed state. From then on every day after the afternoon prayer; "mehter" played for the Ottoman ruler. The notion of a military marching band, such as those in use even today, began to be borrowed from the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The sound associated with the mehterân also exercised an influence on European classical music, with composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven all writing compositions inspired by or designed to imitate the music of the mehters.

The standard instruments employed by a mehterân are the kös (a large bass drum resembling the timpani), the nakare (a small kettledrum), the davul (a frame drum), the zil (cymbals), the kaba zurna (a bass variety of the zurna), the boru (a kind of trumpet), and the cevgen (a kind of stick bearing small concealed bells). The different varieties of bands are classed according to the number of instruments and musicians employed: either six-layered (altı katlı), seven-layered (yedi katlı), or nine-layered (dokuz katlı).

The costumes worn by the mehterân, despite wide variance in color and style, are always very colourful, often including high ribbed hats which are flared at the top and long robes wrapped in colourful silks.
The sound of the Ottoman military band is characterized by an often shrill sound combining bass drums, horns (boru), bells, the triangle and cymbals (zil), among others. It is still played at state, military and tourist functions in modern Turkey by the Mehter Band and the troops that accompany.
Mehterân usually play classical Turkish music such as peşrev, semai, nakış, cengiharbi, murabba and kalenderi. Most of the music played by mehterân is Turkish Folk Music with heroic themes from the Ottoman frontiers. Melodies and lyrics are written in Mehterhane (the house of Mehter).

About The Tour :

This is a special interest tour. Meeting time is 13:00 in our Gallery in Sultanahmet. first our guide gives you a speech about the Military Bands & ottoman Army. After that we start our Tour. We first go to the military museum & after the visit go to the Mehteran music concert between 15:00 - 16:00. After the tour we bring you back to Sultanahmet.
For Ottoman Military Band - Mehteran Music Cd's you can check : www.lesartsturcs.com For More information regarding the Ottoman Military - Jannisary - Mehteran - Music etc.
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