Kalan Müzik
Encyclopedia
Kalan Müzik or Kalan Music for the West is a Turkish
independent record label
company based in Istanbul
. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık
. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes listed as Kalan Ses ("Kalan Audio" or "Kalan Sound"). Kalan has annual revenues of $3 million, and has released more than 400 albums.
From 1992 to 2002, some of Kalan's output met governmental opposition. In 2003, Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of the international Prince Claus Awards
for having "founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide [through] establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings". Since 2004, the Turkish Culture Ministry hands out Kalan CDs to visiting dignitaries.
with $600 in capital. It was named after the pre-1936 name of the town of Tunceli (its founder's birthplace), but also means "Surviving Music" in Turkish. In 2004, it had annual revenues of $3 million.Kalan, op.cit.Turgut, op. cit.
Kalan's output started with reissues of old 78 rpm records of late Ottoman music, the legendary voices of Armenian and Greek minority singers, and of old great recordings of rebetika and klezmer
music, from names such as Tanburi Cemil Bey
, Udi Hrant
, Yorgo Bacanos, or tango singer Seyyan Hanım.
A majority of Kalan's releases are Saltık's recordings of traditional music from the many communities and minorities in Turkey and neighbouring regions, such as Kurdish
folk songs, Armenian
chants, Turkish
ballads, Judeo-Spanish tunes, authentic village ceremonial music, Gypsy melodies from Thrace
, polyphonic Laz
music from northeast Turkey, Zaza
songs from Dersim (Kurdish name of the Tunceli province
), the music of Pomaks
(Slavonic Muslims originating from Bulgaria
), Alevi
Bektashi
religious songs, and the music of traditional rituals from all parts of the region.PCA, op. cit.
However, Kalan also produces and releases contemporary folk or fusion music such as the guitarist Erkan Oğur
, the controversial Grup Yorum
, the popular Yansımalar
, or soundtracks of Turkish films such as Neredesin Firuze
(2004) or The Last Ottoman: Yandim Ali (Son Osmanlı: Yandım Ali) (2007).
, Kalan Müzik had released more than 400 albums.
(deeming them separatist), Kalan's output has sometimes met governmental opposition. In 1992, a release of Kurdish
music sent Saltık to court. In 2002, his music-publishing license was confiscated after he issued an old folk song that featured the word "Kurdistan", which is taboo in Turkey. It was only a public outcry that eventually led to the sentence being reversed. However after the 2002 elections and governmental change, a normalization of relations between Kalan and officials led to the point of the Culture Ministry handing out Kalan CDs to visiting dignitaries.
In 2003, Saltik's work through Kalan Müzik made him a laureate of Netherlands
's international Prince Claus Awards
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". The jury concluded, "Saltik founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide. He has conserved and promoted the musical heritage of the area th[r]ough establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings."
Traditional music from Turkey
Classical music from Turkey
Contemporary music from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
company based in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. It was founded in 1991 by Hasan Saltık
Hasan Saltik
-External links:* – Saltık's record label* at the Prince Claus Awards...
. It specializes in releasing Saltık's recordings of classical and traditional ethnic and folk music from Turkey and the surrounding region. It is sometimes listed as Kalan Ses ("Kalan Audio" or "Kalan Sound"). Kalan has annual revenues of $3 million, and has released more than 400 albums.
From 1992 to 2002, some of Kalan's output met governmental opposition. In 2003, Saltık's work through Kalan made him a laureate of the international Prince Claus Awards
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
for having "founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide [through] establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings". Since 2004, the Turkish Culture Ministry hands out Kalan CDs to visiting dignitaries.
Overview
In 1991, Kalan Müzik was founded by Hasan SaltıkHasan Saltik
-External links:* – Saltık's record label* at the Prince Claus Awards...
with $600 in capital. It was named after the pre-1936 name of the town of Tunceli (its founder's birthplace), but also means "Surviving Music" in Turkish. In 2004, it had annual revenues of $3 million.Kalan, op.cit.Turgut, op. cit.
Kalan's output started with reissues of old 78 rpm records of late Ottoman music, the legendary voices of Armenian and Greek minority singers, and of old great recordings of rebetika and klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
music, from names such as Tanburi Cemil Bey
Tanburi Cemil Bey
Tanburi Cemil Bey , was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim genre in Ottoman classical music...
, Udi Hrant
Udi Hrant Kenkulian
Udi Hrant Kenkulian , often referred to as Udi Hrant or as Hrant Emre was an oud player of Turkish classical music, and a key transitional figure in its transformation into a contemporary popular music...
, Yorgo Bacanos, or tango singer Seyyan Hanım.
A majority of Kalan's releases are Saltık's recordings of traditional music from the many communities and minorities in Turkey and neighbouring regions, such as Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
folk songs, Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
chants, Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
ballads, Judeo-Spanish tunes, authentic village ceremonial music, Gypsy melodies from Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, polyphonic Laz
Laz people
The Laz are an ethnic group native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia...
music from northeast Turkey, Zaza
Zaza people
The Zazas, Kird, Kirmanc or Dimilis are an ethnic Iranic people whose native language is Zazaki spoken in eastern Anatolia. They primarily live in the eastern Anatolian provinces, such as Adıyaman, Aksaray, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzurum, Erzincan , Gumushane, Kars, Malatya, Mus,...
songs from Dersim (Kurdish name of the Tunceli province
Tunceli Province
The Tunceli Province is a province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The province was named Dersim Province and was changed to Tunceli Province on January 4, 1936. with the "Law on Administration of the Tunceli Province" , no...
), the music of Pomaks
Pomaks
Pomaks is a term used for a Slavic Muslim population native to some parts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their native language, also referred to in Greece and Turkey as Pomak language, and some are fluent in Turkish,...
(Slavonic Muslims originating from Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
), Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
religious songs, and the music of traditional rituals from all parts of the region.PCA, op. cit.
However, Kalan also produces and releases contemporary folk or fusion music such as the guitarist Erkan Oğur
Erkan Ogur
Erkan Oğur , or Erkan Ogur in the West, is a Turkish musician. A pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976.Martinelli, op. cit.Unfretted, op. cit. A composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk...
, the controversial Grup Yorum
Grup Yorum
Grup Yorum is a Turkish band known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum has released nineteen albums since 1987. Some of the group's concerts and albums were banned over the years, and some of the group members were arrested or tortured. Yorum remains popular and their albums continue to...
, the popular Yansımalar
Yansimalar
-External links:Official sites - official website* at Kalan.comOther sites...
, or soundtracks of Turkish films such as Neredesin Firuze
Neredesin Firuze (soundtrack)
Neredesin Firuze is the soundtrack of the same-title film by Ezel Akay .-Track listing:...
(2004) or The Last Ottoman: Yandim Ali (Son Osmanlı: Yandım Ali) (2007).
, Kalan Müzik had released more than 400 albums.
Reception
Because laws passed after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état banned songs in minority languages, especially in KurdishKurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
(deeming them separatist), Kalan's output has sometimes met governmental opposition. In 1992, a release of Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
music sent Saltık to court. In 2002, his music-publishing license was confiscated after he issued an old folk song that featured the word "Kurdistan", which is taboo in Turkey. It was only a public outcry that eventually led to the sentence being reversed. However after the 2002 elections and governmental change, a normalization of relations between Kalan and officials led to the point of the Culture Ministry handing out Kalan CDs to visiting dignitaries.
In 2003, Saltik's work through Kalan Müzik made him a laureate of Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
's international Prince Claus Awards
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
on the theme "The survival and innovation of Crafts" for having "played a central role in the rescue, rediscovery and documentation of the cultural diversity of Turkish music". The jury concluded, "Saltik founded a small company to produce recordings of the highest quality which have been the catalyst for the revival of musical traditions and led to their dissemination worldwide. He has conserved and promoted the musical heritage of the area th[r]ough establishing a label which produces unparalleled recordings."
Artists
Artists issued or reissued primarily by Kalan include:Traditional music from Turkey
- Sadettin Kaynak
- Münir Nurettin
- Hacı Taşan
- Birol Topaloğlu
- Zeki MürenZeki MürenZeki Müren was a prominent Turkish singer, composer and actor. He was famous for his compelling voice and precise articulation in his singing of both established Turkish classical music and contemporary songs.-Biography:Müren grew up in the provincial capital city of Bursa in western Turkey...
Classical music from Turkey
- Yorgo Bacanos
- Tanburi Cemil BeyTanburi Cemil BeyTanburi Cemil Bey , was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim genre in Ottoman classical music...
- Seyyan Hanım
- Udi HrantUdi Hrant KenkulianUdi Hrant Kenkulian , often referred to as Udi Hrant or as Hrant Emre was an oud player of Turkish classical music, and a key transitional figure in its transformation into a contemporary popular music...
- Niyazi SayınNiyazi SayinNiyazi Sayın , spelled Niyazi Sayin in the West, is a Turkish ney flautist and music educator. For a long time, he has performed duets with tanbur lute player Necdet Yaşar...
- Şükrü Tunar
- Necdet YaşarNecdet YasarNecdet Yaşar or Necdet Yasar in the West , is a Turkish tanbur lute player and teacher. A founding member of the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble, he performed throughout the world as a cultural ambassador for Turkey and taught twice at the University of Washington...
Contemporary music from Turkey
- Tolga Çandar
- İsmail Demircioğlu
- Grup YorumGrup YorumGrup Yorum is a Turkish band known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum has released nineteen albums since 1987. Some of the group's concerts and albums were banned over the years, and some of the group members were arrested or tortured. Yorum remains popular and their albums continue to...
- Erkan OğurErkan OgurErkan Oğur , or Erkan Ogur in the West, is a Turkish musician. A pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976.Martinelli, op. cit.Unfretted, op. cit. A composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk...
- YansımalarYansimalar-External links:Official sites - official website* at Kalan.comOther sites...
External links
- Kalan.com (English) - official website