Video: A Story of the City: Constantinople Istanbul

Directed by Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol

featuring,
Schola Cantorum, Ensemble Trinitas, The New England Drum and Winds Mehterhane, DÜNYA İnce Saz Ensemble, DÜNYA Anadolu Folk Ensemble, DÜNYA Fasıl Ensemble and DÜNYA Arabesk Ensemble

The many layers of communal memory in this program proceed through Greek Orthodox music, secular Greek music, Crusader songs, music of the Ottoman ceremonial and military ensembles, Ottoman court music, Sufi ceremonial music, Turkish folk music, Sephardic Jewish songs, urban music of the Armenians and Turks, and finally contemporary urban popular music full of longing and protest. On its own, each piece may communicate celebration, love, devotion or military might, but taken together, the mood of melancholy is unmistakable, which by now has been permanently woven into the fabric of this thriving cosmopolitan city.