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Kudsi Erguner
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x0x The 'breath' of the East "Kudsi Erguner"
By BAHAR KALKAN
Master of the 'ney' and musical archaeologist Kudsi Erguner is a musician who combines jazz with Ottoman and 'sufi' music.
The concert that we watched, listened to, and read about in the enchanting atmosphere of the 1500-year-old Hagia Eirene was actually a summing up by Kudsi Erguner of his entire musical career. Taking his inspiration from the quatrains of Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, he fills the stage with music, calligraphy and dance all at once. Erguner expresses mystical philosophy through his 'ney' (reed flute), bringing disparate musical cultures together in a burst of sound. Istanbul music lovers have become accustomed to seeing a new project from him every year. Heavily involved in music since the age of nine, Erguner, who has spent 32 years in Paris, goes for the natural, seeking 'pleasure' and excitement in music. As far as he can count, he has 92 albums to his name. Regarded as one of the world's leading representatives of sufi music, Erguner does not limit his own musical universe exclusively to Mevlevi chants and rituals.
He also does research on classical Turkish music, archiving forgotten compositions and mixing Ottoman music with western rhythms and improvisational jazz. He has produced film music with world-famous directors like Peter Brook and Tony Gatlif as well as engaging in joint projects with musicians such as Peter Gabriel, Didier Lockwood and Michel Portal. Coming together with Erguner on the occasion of his latest project, 'Metaphor', we talked with him about his life in music, his multi-cultural projects, his new books, and the much-debated East-West divide.
You've said that you 'inherited' your profession from your grandfather Suleyman Erguner and your father Ulvi Erguner, both of whom were 'ney' players. How did you start playing the ney as a child?
It was out of the question in those days that my peers would take any interest in the ney or in Turkish classical music. People simply had no such interests; in fact, such things were slightly frowned upon.
But the encouragement I received from my father and the people around him spurred me on to learn. Another source of encouragement for me were the small amateur choruses in which I sang. Although I was much younger than most of the other members, we played together and I performed in the concerts. Later I joined the Istanbul State Radio, where I worked for two years. I sang briefly in Nevzat Atlig's chorus. It was after that I went to Europe.
You're usually involved in multi-cultural projects. Is there a special reason for that?
Let's say it's a spinoff of living in Paris. Because Paris is a world city; you meet a lot of artists living there. There are also musicians I've met not just in France but in other countries I've visited. I admire a lot of their work and I want to work with them. Most recently I got together with jazz trumpet player Markus Stockhausen. I've played with Michel Portal, Christof Lauer, Michel Godard, Marc Nauseef, and Rabih Abou-Khalil. Sometimes I invite them, and sometimes they invite me.
'From Sufism to Flamenco', 'Ottomania', 'Islam Blues' and 'Ney-Zen' are just a few of the projects in which you've brought disparate musical cultures together. What are you trying to draw attention to in these multi-cultural projects?
What's important for me is to work on a theme. The project, 'From Sufism to Flamenco,' for example, was in memory of the mystical poet Ibn Arabi, who was born in Andalusia in the 12th century. He started out from Andalusia, came as far as Konya and then settled in Damascus.
We translated his book of poetry, 'The Lovers' Guide,' from Arabic into Spanish. Spanish Flamenco musicians recited the poems in Spanish and Istanbul sufi musicians recited them in Arabic. The 'Ney-Zen' project was realized with Japanese and Turkish musicians. In Zen culture the most important instrument is the 'shakuhachi', which is made of bamboo. It's very similar to the ney of sufi music. Bringing these two instruments together is important both from the musical angle and as a symbol. Our 'Taj Mahal' project was inspired by the Baburname, the memoirs of Sultan Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and founder of the Indo-Turkic empire.
In other words, a sultan in 16th century India wrote a book in Turkish! It's impossible to read it and not be touched. In other words, there is a reason behind all these projects.
Most recently we enjoyed 'Metaphor', a project of yours that brought together various branches of art under the sponsorship of Boeing in the Istanbul Music Festival. In the concert you all expressed yourselves through your own medium, you through your ney, Carolyn Carlson and her group through dance, and the famous calligrapher Hassan Massoudy through his lines.
I believe that music is not an art that develops by itself. A musician is nurtured by a cultural environment. And that environment is connected to all the branches of art as well as to the life of the time. Music and the fine arts complement each other in a give-and-take.
I want to show how all of them can be part of a joint production when they are inspired by the same enthusiasm, the same theme, the same literature,exactly as we did in the 'Metaphor' project. We designed this project based on the quatrains of Mevlana, who says that the flute without the breath of the flutist, the pen without the hand of the calligrapher, and man untouched by the divine has no meaning. It was entirely improvisational. Hassan Bey took his inspiration from the poetry translations and stylized his lines in keeping with the music and dance. The dancers did the same.
We're always talking about a mutual embrace of East and West, but don't we have differences too? If we tried to list them, they'd easily fill three or four volumes! One of the biggest problems in the world today is that a very commercialized civilization has taken over the world. There's no difference any more between somebody who lives in Japanese and somebody who lives in New York. We're heading straight towards cultural uniformity.
What we need to do straightaway is to appreciate the unique cultures of people of different civilizations and introduce them into the culture that has monopolized the world. And artists are the people who can do this. I would like the cultural components that constitute our own identity but that can also contribute to a world culture to find their place in that world culture, either in modern form or in the original. If we look at it in terms of culture and philosophy, the development of the Western countries is quite different from that of the Eastern countries. The ideas put forward in western society are forms of thought that result from wars, from events experienced, and from the various phases through which the west has passed. The person of the East has no experience of such things. Its as if the West was looking for something but could never find it, whereas the East is at peace, claiming to have found something. But these are two very different kinds of cultural richness. The truth that is claimed to have been found in the East provides people with a number of pleasures and thrills.
The West too discovered wonderful things during its quest. The two should complement each other.
Can we talk about your new projects? Whats in the works these days?
My book entitled The Fount of Separation: A Ney Players Journey, which was first published in French, came out this month in English, translated by my wife. Its intended to be autobiographical but is actually more of a first-hand account of the period in which my generation lived. Its been translated into Greek as well. I have two other book projects at the moment: Im compiling a book of Mevlanas stories and the figures of speech he used in the Mesnevi. The second book is an experiment, in the musical sense... a book Ive been working on for years. A detailed analysis of the way in which the modes used in classical Turkish music are played today. It will take take years.
I also have an opera project. A Gesamtkunstwerk of course... A reply to Mozarts Abduction from the Seraglio called Return to the Seraglio. It is currently in the libretto-writing phase...
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