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Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching band in the world. Though they are often known by the Persian -derived word ''mehter'' (مهتر) in the West, that word, properly speaking, refers only to a single musician in the band. In Ottoman Turkish , the band was generally known as ''mehterân'' (مهتران, a plural of ''mehter''), though those bands used in the Retinue of a Vizier or Prince were generally known as ''mehterhane'' (مهترخانه, meaning roughly, "a gathering of ''mehter''s"). In Modern Turkish , the band as a whole is often termed ''mehter takımı'' ("group of ''mehter''s"). HISTORY It is believed that individual intrumentalists may have been mentioned in the 8th-century-CE Orkhon Inscriptions , the oldest written sources of the people who would eventually become the Modern Turks . Such military bands as the ''mehter''s, however, were not definitively mentioned until the 13th century. 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 ''mehter''s. In 1826, the music of the ''mehter''s fell into disfavor following Sultan Mahmud II 's massacre of the Janissary Corps , who had formed the core of the bands. Subsequent to this, in the mid and late 19th century, the genre went into decline along with the Ottoman Empire. In 1911, as the empire was beginning to collapse, the director of Istanbul 's military museum attempted a somewhat successful revival of the tradition, and by 1953—so as to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the Fall Of Constantinople to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II —the tradition had been fully restored. Today, the music of the ''mehter''s is largely ceremonial, and considered by many Turkish people to be a stirring example of heroism and a reminder of Turkey 's imperial past. STRUCTURE 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 pipe), and the ''cevgen'' (a kind of stick bearing small concealed Bell s). 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. Members Ceremonial Members: |
Image:Mehter Davuljpg''
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Davul" class="copylinks">Davul '' players |
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Image:Mehter Zurnajpg''Kaba
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Zurna" class="copylinks">Zurna '' players |
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