Universität zu Köln

The influential activities of Giuseppe Donizetti at the Ottoman court between 1828 and 1856 testify to the important role played by the arts in the social and cultural transformations taking place in 19th century Turkey, and also highlight the ways in which music, in particular, came to be used as a carrier of ideological values. The introduction of European music in Turkey was part of a wider process of consolidation of European hegemonic influence, which made initial inroads in the Ottoman Empire thanks to the modernizing thrust of Sultan Mahmud II, and resulted in the reorganization of the legal and military systems as well as in reformist initiatives in the domains of expressive culture and traditional customs. Elsewhere, such hegemony had been and would continue to be imposed by Europe through the exercise of military, political or economic power. After situating Giuseppe Donizetti against this historical and political background, my introduction outlines the development of western art music practice and composition in Turkey during the Ottoman and republican periods. I highlight the paucity of international musicological and ethnomusicological studies with regard not only to this tradition but also to the nearly global presence of what could be tentatively labeled non-EuroAmerican western art music, with the exception of scholarly contributions from the very countries where this music has taken root. I suggest that such neglect has to do with theoretical and ideological issues. I argue that, in musicology and ethnomusicology, there exists a certain uneasiness and ambiguity towards the study of non-Euro-American western art music traditions. These, I contend, lie in a grey area or zone of avoidance in both disciplines, largely due to a persisting presumption of cultural difference between the West and the rest. Drawing on post-colonial and post-structuralist perspectives, I bring in sharp relief how a presumption of similarity or sameness, and the notion of dynamic difference may provide useful alternatives to this impasse and contribute to a counter-hegemonic strategy. In this line of thought, I offer one possible key to understanding the significance of the present volume. The study of Giuseppe Donizetti Pasha provides a unique opportunity to define research themes that are of great interest to both Turkish and Italian music scholarship, and to trace aspects of a common and interconnected cultural history. Furthermore, the international dimension of this book, combining contributions from Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Canada, is an aspect worth emphasizing. In this respect, this book may reasonably be viewed as a site of musicological collaboration that undermines the hegemonic relations discussed above, with the active contribution of international scholars and musicians, whether from Turkey or specializing in Turkish music, coming to play a crucial role in understanding Italian history and music. Bergamo, in particular, may have here an opportunity to know herself better by listening carefully to Istanbul.

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