About Maqams
The classical music traditions of Turkish, Arabic and Western music are
all based on the same musical theories of scale building credited to the
ancient Greek Pythagoras.Over the centuries the three traditions
followed a separate path of development, each of which is now recognized
as a form of high art, but each with a distinct musical 'dialect.'
By the time of J.S. Bach, Western classical music had developed into a
system of tuning known as equal temperament, where the musical octave is
divided into 12 equally spaced half-tones. These tones are easily
visible on any piano or fretted guitar. Equal temperament enables
Western composers to create works using complex harmonies and polyphony.
Arabic classical music went through an important period of early
development during the 9th through the 12th centuries when the Arabs
ruled large parts of the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe.
Arabic scholars made significant contributions in studying and
interpreting the works of the ancient Greeks; the Arabic system of modes
known as maqamat came out of these early studies. In Arabic maqamat, the
octave is divided into 24 equally spaced quarter-tones. Classical Arabic
composers show skill in the development of these quarter-tones not
through harmony or polyphony (as in the West), but through melody. To
Western ears trained in 12 tone equal temperament, these quarter-tones
can sound odd at first and are sometimes referred to as micro-tones.
While Turkish classical music went through a parallel period of early
development with the Arabs, the high point in the development of the
Turkish classical style is during the Ottoman Empire period from the
15th through the 20th centuries. In Turkish makams, the octave is not
divided equally, but proportionally using whole-tones, half-tones,
quarter-tones and even smaller tones. In theory, there are 24 tones in
the Turkish octave, however in practice there are probably 31 and
perhaps more. Like Arabic composers, Turkish classical composers show
skill in the melodic development of makams through melody. Turkish
makams closely reflect Pythagorean thinking in the use of proportional
tuning. The eighth-tone is equal to 1 Pythagorean Comma (approximately
23 cents), which plays a crucial role in micro-tonal pitch development
within any mode. The Yeni Makam Series of composer Edward J. Hines is a
series of chamber works which synthesize Western compositional technique
with the ancient theory of both Turkish makams and Arabic maqamat. To
accomplish this objective, in Yeni Makam the whole tone (200 cents) is
divided into half tones (100 cents) and quarter-tones (50 cents). The
quarter-tone is then divided again, this time into eighth-tones (25
cents). The eighth-tone is only a 2 cent difference from an authentic
Pythagorean comma (23 cents) which is imperceptible to the ear. In this
way, a single musical composition can explore whole-tones, half-tones,
quarter-tones and eight-tones which are now common to all three musical
traditions.
Edward Hines EHM
Turkish
sheet music
Turkuler
/Geocities
