Ottoman Music Culture in the Balkans through the Prism of the Travel Writer Evliya Celebi

Abstract

This paper reconstruct the picture about the Ottoman music through the prism of descriptions and experiences of Celebi on his stay in several cities in the territory of R. Macedonia in 17^th century. Based on the data, we covered the institutions, spiritual and educational, in which music activities took place usually. Spiritual music had a ceremonial character and was represented in the mosques and tekkes. The spiritual life in mosques was at a very high level; so, music education had a valuable place in the divine service. The important role that tekkes had in terms of cultural life is confirmed through the travelogues of Celebi, in which information about their activity in all the cities are found. Their role was significant in the development of fine arts, especially poetry and music. Music was an integral part of education in the madrassas through the study of spiritual music forms. Many individuals contributed to the development of spiritual, as well as overall musical culture, and as we learn from the Seyahatname (book of travels) of Celebi, they all had different social activities.