Tuesday, August 29, 2006

OTTOMAN MILITARY BAND


Ottoman military bands are 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 mehters"). In modern Turkish, the band as a whole is often termed mehter takımı ("group of mehters").


You can listen mehter music by clicking on the below image.



Though Mehter band played a variety of frontier marches, Ceddin deden is one of the best known.

Lyrics of Ceddin Deden

(Seek) Your ancestors, your grandfathers, your generation, your father
Turkish nation have always been valiant,
Your armies, many times
Have been renowned throughout the world
Turkish nation, Turkish nation
Passionately love (your) freedom
Overwhelm the enemies of your (free) motherland
And make that cursed ones feel abjected

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