Letters by a Turkish Spy
FRENCH TURQUERIES IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
Mahmut the Ottoman spy was sending during the long reign of the Sun King Louis XIV reports from Paris to Istanbul on politics and events in France but also added stories and even gossip on court and society. Mahmut the Spy is a fictive character, but his „Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy“, one of the big bestsellers in 17th and 18th century Europe, gave us the inspiration to immerse in the world of Baroque French Turquerie - the fascination for Ottoman lifestyle and art - and the numerous encounters of the two empires. It was the time the coffee took off on his victory lap in Europe, the ladies enrobed themselves in Harem dresses, oriental heroes conquered the bookshelves and French musicians utilized the novelty and exoticism of Ottoman music to enhance the beauty and the intellectual challenge of their own works. Lully and other composers at the court attempted to capture Ottoman spirit in their music, borrowed initation rites of Sufi brotherhoods, copied the sound of the Janissary bands and did research into Istanbuls art songs, the instruments and the music of the Imperial palace. We enrich this exciting journey through Western Turquerie with Ottoman repertoire of the period as it has been heard on several embassies to Paris- from lively Harem dances to both lyrical and even flippant art songs.
Works from the collections of Ali Ufkî, Dimitri Kantemiroğlu and Philidor, Lully, Fonton, Brossard, Marais and others10 musicians (Turkish Singer, Oboe, Violin, Viola da Gamba, Thiorba/Baroque Guitar, Tanbur, Kanun, Rebab, Percussion).