Doğu Masalları: Johann
Strauss'un Sultan II. Abdülhamid'e İthafen Yazdığı Vals (Märchen aus dem
Orient: The Waltz Johann Strauss Composed for Sultan Abdülhamid II)
Sanat Dünyamız, No. 108, Fall
2008, pp. 12-25.
Märchen
aus dem Orient, Opus 444 of Johann Strauss (II). This work was composed
in 1892 in Bad Ischl, and dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan of the time,
Abdülhamid II. The premiere took place on November 27, 1892, conducted by Johann Strauss himself.
The occasion was a charity concert organized by his brother Eduard in the Musikverein. Strauss was decorated with the Ottoman Mecidiye medal of class 3 for the work, belatedly in 1895. This relatively little known work is one of the gems of Strauss in which the Waltz King conciously sought to widen the form of the valse and transcend the limitations of dance music.
An interpretation from a 1892 piano version, recorded by pianist Zeynep Üçbaşaran can be found through the link
Johann Strauss, Opus 444 (mp3).
(Click on the cover to download PDF, 15 pages, 8.4MB)
The Liszt-Listmann Incident
Studia Musicologica 49/3–4, 2008, pp. 1–19,
Final published version DOI: 10.1556/SMus.49.2008.3-4.1.
Before ending his performance career by concerts in Odessa and Elizabethgrad in 1847, Franz Liszt visited Istanbul, gave a number of public concerts and performed twice for Sultan Abdul-Medgid in the Tcheragan Palace. A widely reported
incident in relation to this trip concerns an impostor
named Listmann, a historically unidentified character, who
supposedly passed himself off as Liszt in Istanbul and who received
valuable presents from the Sultan under this pretext. According to some
accounts Listmann almost caused Liszt to be arrested upon his arrival. The
purpose of this work is to present historical data on this folkloric
Liszt-Listmann tale. We present primary sources that show that Herr
Listmann of the Liszt-Listmann incident was in fact a German
Tonkünstler and a man of letters named Eduard Litzmann who toured Spain
and the orient, and who was apparently a pretty competent pianist. The
sources indicate that notwithstanding Liszt’s own letter to his cousin
Henriette, numerous colorful aspects of the incident as reported in the
literature result from self-perpetuating transformations of fiction and
cannot be substantiated. (Click on the cover to download PDF, 20 pages, 854KB)
Musiki Mecmuası (Music Magazine, Special Issue), No. 474, March 2006, pp. 6-37 ( Özel Sayı).
This article (in Turkish) is about the Ottoman Sultan Abdül-Medjid (Abdul-medgid) , and music dedicated to him by J. Strauss. Strauss sent this music to the Porte in May 1849 accompanied by a letter. There is a
folkloric belief fueled by music historians that
the author of this music was
Johann Strauss Jr., the infamous Waltz-King. Was it? How exactly do we
know this? It is true that a number of piano works in the collection bear "J.
Strauss" as the author of the works. But... there were quite a few
musical Strausses at the time, not all of whom from Vienna.
This article gives a comprehensive history of who this particular J.
Strauss was,
along with a detailed catalogue of his piano music
presented to the Porte in 1849. The collection is now housed in the
Istanbul University Library. A facsimile of the
piece titled Constantinople, and dedicated to Abdul-Medjid by
Strauss is included. (Click on the cover to download PDF, 32 pages, 11.4MB)
1453, Journal of Istanbul's Culture and Art, No. 3, January-February-March 2008, pp. 154-158.
This article (in Turkish with an Engish translation) is based on the Music
Magazine article (Music Magazine, No. 477, December
2006, pp. 2-17) on the Huldigungen-Walzer,
Op. 88 of
Eduard Strauss, which was written for the 32nd Ottoman Sultan
Abdül-Aziz Khan and published by C. A. Spina in 1872. (Click on the cover to download PDF, 6 pages, 1MB)
Musiki Mecmuası (Music Magazine), No. 477, December 2006, pp. 2-17.
Eduard Strauss is the least popular of the Strauss brothers as a composer, although his fame as the conductor of the Strauss orchestra was
considerable. Johann Strauss Jr. would jokingly refer to himself as
"Edi's brother".
This article (in Turkish) is on the Huldigungen-Walzer, Op. 88 of
Eduard Strauss, which was written for the 32nd Ottoman Sultan
Abdül-Aziz Khan and published by C. A. Spina in 1872. The article draws
upon the documents in the Ottoman archives
in Istanbul, as well as a copy of the music sent to the Porte, which is
currently in the Istanbul University Library rare documents collection.
There is photographic evidence that Eduard Strauss received an order of
Medjidie this work from the Ottoman Sultan, but the actual documents to
this effect have not been located.
A facsimile of the piano version of the work is included. (Click on the cover to download PDF, 15 pages, 11.5MB)
This is a short children's tale by Aziz Nesin. I translated it from Turkish for my daughter's 4-th grade GATE class. It is a beautiful introduction to Poetry. You are welcome to download it and use it for educational purposes.
Aziz Nesin (1915—1995) was a popular Turkish humorist and author of
more than 100 books.His works have been translated into over
thirty languages. In 1972, he founded the Nesin Foundation with the
purpose of taking, each year, four poor children
into the Foundation's home and providing every necessity until they
complete
their education. Aziz Nesin has donated to the Nesin Foundation his
copyrights
in their entirety for all his works. This story is from a book of stories for children published in
1985 (original title "Güzel ile Doğru"). 
(Click on the thumbnail to download PDF, 5 pages, 70KB)
This is an interview with James Grady Hobson, who spent many years teaching at Robert College of Istanbul. The interview appeared in RC Quarterly, Spring-Summer 2003, pp. 46-48.
(Click on the photo to download PDF, 3 pages, 188KB)