Description

Born in Konya, in eastern Turkey, the Mevlevi Sufism of the whirling dervishes has been perpetuated since the thirteenth century, giving pride of place to its emblematic instrument: the ney. Inci (vol. I) – Sacred Music of the Dhikr Ceremony is directed by Sadreddin Özçimi and Necati Çelik, two great masters from Konya who represent this sacred tradition in its most profound sense. The album of this sextet takes as its starting point the perde kaldirma, one of the great musical forms linked to the ritual of the mystical dance (sema) of the religious brotherhoods. The soloist creates a series of vocal or instrumental improvisations (taksim) over an ostinato of the ensemble, modulating through all the intervals of the fundamental scale. An expression much appreciated by the neyzens (Turkish ney masters), perde kaldirma creates a climate conducive to exaltation and ecstasy.

With the Masters of Classical Turkish Music project, Seyir Muzik records releases a series of recordings presenting 21^st Century masters of Ottoman music. Inci (vol. I) – Sacred Music of the Dhikr Ceremony is the first volume of what will become a 5 CD box set highlighting some of the present-day doyens of Ottoman music. Born in Konya, capital of Mevlevi Sufism, neyzen Sadreddin Özçimi and udi Necati Çelik are musical legends who are considered to be directly related to the current blossoming of classical Turkish music. Today, they are the oldest descendants of a lineage of grand masters initiated by the late tanbur virtuoso Necdet Yaşar and living legend Niyazi Sahin, who insured the perpetuation of the Ottoman music legacy throughout the second half of the 20th Century up to the present day.