Photo: AT THE BAKU PHILHARMONIC – (From right) Faruk Kak\u0131n\u00e7, Aykut \u015eener, Azerbaijani composer and orchestra conductor Niyazi Tagizade, Nida Eskin, Esin Af\u015far, Vecdi \u00d6ren, Oru\u00e7 G\u00fcven\u00e7, Halit Kak\u0131n\u00e7, Orhan Top\u00e7uo\u011flu.<\/p>\n
Musiki Mecmuas\u0131, Year: 25, No. 276, October 1972
\nINTERVIEW – THE CRADLE OF OUR MUSIC
\nEtem Ruhi \u00dcNG\u00d6R<\/p>\n
– Mr. Oru\u00e7 G\u00fcven\u00e7, we know that the main originality of the \u201cD\u00f6n\u00fc\u015f\u00fcm\u201d group you\u2019re a part of lies in making music with Turkish instruments. That\u2019s truly fascinating. I hope this was also met with interest during your trip to Central Asia. Now, before we move on to your trip, would you please introduce yourself to us? <\/p>\n
– I was born on July 28, 1948, in the Tav\u015fanl\u0131 district of K\u00fctahya. My father is a journalist. My mother is a homemaker. Since my maternal grandparents were immigrants from Kazan, our family has always had a deep love and affection for Central Asia. Years later, this love led me, through music, all the way to the heart of Central Asia. <\/p>\n
My journey into music began in middle school. This was connected to a dream. One night, I dreamt that I was playing the violin. The next day, I told my father about it and asked him to buy me a violin. Since my father made it a principle to support us in various social activities at every opportunity, he didn\u2019t refuse my request and bought me a Japanese-made quarter-size violin. For three years, I took lessons in Western music from Mr. Fethi Akuz, the music teacher at Tav\u015fanl\u0131 Middle School. When I finished middle school, I realized that Western music was confined to a set of formulas and failed to provide much emotional satisfaction, so I set it aside. So I enrolled in the newly established \u201cTav\u015fanl\u0131 Turkish Music Society\u201d in Tav\u015fanl\u0131. I began participating in musical sessions with my tiny violin. <\/p>\n
– Who was your employer?<\/p>\n
– We had two instructors. One is still in Bursa\u2014Keman\u00ee L\u00fbtfi Bey\u2014and the other is Turan Altay, who is still in Tav\u015fanl\u0131. He is also a violinist. After middle school, my love and appreciation for classical Turkish music had grown immensely by the time I reached high school. When I started college, I found myself in the university choir. <\/p>\n
– Which college?<\/p>\n
– Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Literature. I graduated this year as well.
\nSince I could read music, it was easy for me to join the choir. We also participated in radio programs. Meanwhile, I started learning to play the oud. Then I built my own rebab\u2014a Central Asian instrument\u2014and began practicing that. Later, I also practiced the ney, tanbur, ba\u011flama, and, to a small extent, the kanun. With the addition of the gubuz to this repertoire, I continued performing for the public.
\nMy introduction to D\u00f6n\u00fc\u015f\u00fcm dates back to about two and a half years ago. I met Halit Kak\u0131n\u00e7, one of the founders of D\u00f6n\u00fc\u015f\u00fcm, and manager Ali Eraslan while I was at a gathering with my rebab. <\/p>\n
– Okay, wait a minute\u2014you said “The Transformation Duo.” What do they play in this duo? <\/p>\n
– One of them plays a six-string guitar, and the other plays a twelve-string guitar. But they also played the ba\u011flama from time to time. They had won first place as the German High School in an inter-high-school competition organized by the Milliyet newspaper. Later, capitalizing on this title, they turned professional under the auspices of Milliyet as the \u201cD\u00f6n\u00fc\u015f\u00fcm Duo.\u201d They gained fame with their first record, \u201cKiziro\u011flu Mustafa.\u201d
\nWith the addition of myself and other friends to this duo, D\u00f6n\u00fc\u015f\u00fcm developed its own distinctive atmosphere as a group oriented toward Central Asia, Anatolia, and polyphony, and opposed cultural degeneration.
\nLast year, we took a trip to Cyprus. Around that time, it had been reported that some Turkish artists were touring Russia. We, too, submitted our candidacy for a similar tour in 1972, to be carried out within the framework of the Turkish-Russian cultural agreement. <\/p>\n
– Where did you apply for this?<\/p>\n
– To the Culture Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We submitted an official petition, adding our own proposals to what was written about us. We received a response to our petition about four months ago. The response stated that, as deemed necessary, a soloist would be joining our group. We later learned that this soloist was Esin Af\u015far, who had previously represented our country abroad.
\nSince we were not a full accompaniment orchestra, the members of our group who play Western instruments worked together for 15 days to accompany Esin Af\u015far. <\/p>\n
– Mr. Oru\u00e7, could you please introduce the members of your community to us?<\/p>\n
Of course, Halit Kak\u0131n\u00e7, who is the lead singer of our group and also plays the 12-string guitar. He is a graduate of the Austrian High School. <\/p>\n
– Is this friend of yours the president?<\/p>\n
– Yes. Then there\u2019s our friend Aykut \u015eener, who plays the organ. He\u2019s a student at the German High School. Vecdi \u00d6ren plays the bass guitar. Orhan Top\u00e7uo\u011flu plays the drums. He\u2019s also about to start college. Our friend who plays the ney is Nida Eskin. As the newest member of the group, I currently play the ney, rebab, tar, and gubus. <\/p>\n
– Mr. Oru\u00e7, although the gubuz is a Turkish instrument, it is not well-known in Turkey. I first saw this instrument in *Atlas*, the world\u2019s largest book on musical instruments. Then you made one for me and gave it to me as a gift. This instrument, which is very primitive and has a narrow range, caught my attention. I did some research. In a Japanese music book, I saw that the Inuit also use it. Later, I learned from Japanese musicologists that its name is \u201cMukkuri\u201d or \u201cMukkuna.\u201d But theirs is a bit different. I\u2019m preparing an article about this instrument, which I\u2019ll publish in a magazine in the future.
\nI\u2019m sorry we\u2019ve strayed a bit from the topic. <\/p>\n
– These are the members of our group. Also, Halit\u2019s father, Mr. Faruk, is a conservatory graduate, and he serves as the group\u2019s manager. <\/p>\n
– Where do you do your work?<\/p>\n
– We’re currently at the Halits’ house in Moda. Before the trip, we were also practicing at the “Bosphorus Music Society” clubhouse in Ku\u015fdili, Kad\u0131k\u00f6y. <\/p>\n
– I guess it’s time for the trip now, isn’t it?<\/p>\n
SETTING OUT ON A TRIP<\/p>\n
– Yes, if you’ll allow me, I’ll try to explain it by referring to my notes. At the top of my notes, I’ve written: “A trip to Central Asia.”
\nAs we had agreed earlier, we met up with our friends at the Ye\u015filk\u00f6y terminal at 2:00 p.m. on September 1. And there were nine of us… <\/p>\n
– Wait a minute. Doesn’t your group have 7 members, including Esin Af\u015far? Plus the manager makes 8. So, who’s the eighth one? <\/p>\n
– Sound technician Vartevar Camu\u015fo\u011flu.
\nOur flight departed for Moscow at 4:25 p.m. Our trip got off to a cheerful start. Just as we were getting really hungry, a flight attendant who looked like a Crimean Turk brought us our meals. The meal included chicken, roast meat, cheese, cake, butter, white wine, soda, and tea. We landed in Moscow at 7:55 p.m. So our flight lasted 3.5 hours. <\/p>\n
– Was it cold outside?<\/p>\n
– It was cold. Everyone was already walking around in coats anyway. Since we were playing it safe, we put on our overcoats and the like. When we got off the plane, Russian soldiers greeted us. At the terminal, Mr. Emre and his wife, Mrs. I\u015f\u0131k, from the embassy, also greeted us. We left the terminal at 9:50 p.m. and set our watches forward one hour. They call the bus \u201cVaftobus.\u201d Riding the Vaftobus, we passed Leningrad Street, Gorky Street, the Moscow River port, and Pushkin Street, passing Revolution Square, then in front of the Kremlin at 10:30 p.m., and through Red Square, arriving at the Grand Moscow Hotel at 11:00 p.m. To be more precise, they call it the \u201cRasya\u201d Hotel. It\u2019s a very large hotel that can accommodate 6,000 people. <\/p>\n
– Is it bigger than the Hilton?<\/p>\n
– It\u2019s at least twice the size of the Hilton. After settling into our rooms, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Since we were a little late, there wasn\u2019t much food left. They brought us a dish called \u201cBet Stragona.\u201d Apparently, this was the name of a prince from before the revolution. The prince really liked this dish and used to eat it often. The dish consists of potatoes and ground meat. What caught my attention there was that they were eating whole-grain bread. I asked our host, Mr. Genrih, about this. <\/p>\n
– Mr. Genrih, what nationality are you?<\/p>\n
– Rus graduated from the Department of Turkish Studies at Moscow State University. He speaks Turkish very well. He can even crack jokes in Turkish. They also assigned a Russian female news anchor to accompany us. Her name is Marina Satkova.
\nAccording to Mr. Genrih, Russian experts determined that whole-wheat bread has a higher yield, which is why this type of bread is used.
\nThe next day, Saturday, September 2, we got up at 7:30 a.m. and had breakfast first. Breakfast consisted of cheese, bread, and tea. There is no white cheese in Russia; instead, there are cheddar-type cheeses. <\/p>\n
– Isn’t it the same in Europe? I don’t think white cheese is eaten anywhere else except in the Balkans. <\/p>\n
– There’s white cheese in Baku. I paid 55 kapik for this for breakfast. <\/p>\n
– Where are you getting this money from? Did you exchange your money?<\/p>\n
– On the first day, they gave us 30 rubles each. They calculated this as a fee per concert. Since one ruble was worth 17 lira and 25 kuru\u015f, it came to about 500 lira. <\/p>\n
– Well, since you\u2019ve been here for about a month, it seems you\u2019ve made quite a bit of money.<\/p>\n
– Yes, since we gave 21 concerts, everyone received 10,800 lira, but since we couldn\u2019t convert that money into Turkish lira, we had no choice but to spend it all there. I suppose that\u2019s a special tactic. <\/p>\n
KYRGYZSTAN<\/p>\n
The first country on our trip was Kyrgyzstan. We left for the airport at 10:00 a.m. and departed from Moscow at 1:30 p.m. on an Ilyushin flight. After a 5-hour flight, we arrived in Firunze, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, at 6:30 p.m. At 7:50 p.m., we checked into the \u201cKyrgyzstan Hotel.\u201d Firunze is a city with green and beautiful streets. In fact, during this trip we observed that the streets are very wide, very clean, and lined with trees.
\nWe ran into many Kyrgyz people at the hotel. Since I know a little of the Kazan dialect, I could communicate easily with the Kyrgyz people.
\nThe next day, September 3, we got up early again and had breakfast at 8:00 a.m. For breakfast, we had honey, butter, tea, and cheese. <\/p>\n
– Of course, you’ll have to pay for it again.<\/p>\n
– Yes, the host only paid for lunch.<\/p>\n
– Well, Mr. Oru\u00e7, you mentioned that you saw some Kyrgyz people at the hotel. Are they employees? <\/p>\n
– No, the staff are Russian. The Kyrgyz were customers. So when these Kyrgyz realized from our appearance and language that we were Turkish, they tried to approach us to talk, but… <\/p>\n
(To be continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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