The ''saz semai'' (also spelled in Turkish as ''saz sema'i'', ''saz sema-i'', ''saz sema i'', ''saz semaī'', ''saz semâ'î'', ''sazsemai'', ''saz semaisi'', or ''sazsemaisi'' and in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

as ''samâi'') is an instrumental

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: * Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

Ottoman classical music Ottoman music ( tr, Osmanlı müziği) or Turkish classical music ( tr, Türk sanat müziği) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditional ...

. It was typically the closing movement of a ''

fasıl The ''fasıl'' is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic '' nawba'' and ''waslah''. A classical ''fasıl'' generally includes movements such as '' taksim'', ''peşrev'', '' kâr'', '' beste'', '' ağır semâ'î'', '' yür ...

'' (i.e. suite). The saz semai is metered and typically uses the usul (rhythmic structure) called ''aksak semai''. A saz semai is typically in 4 movements, called ''hane'' (lit. "house"), each movement followed by a '' teslim'' (

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the v ...

). The ''teslim'' and the first three ''hane'' are usually in rhythm structure 10/8, unlike the fourth ''hane'' which will be in 6/4.

Common Saz Semaisi

Some Saz Semaisi are very known and played in the all makam music area (From Greece to Iraq, and from Iraq to Morocco). Here a few of them : *Samâi al Thakil - also called : Arap saz semai. This samai is in makam Bayati. *Samâi Al-Aryan - also called : Samâi Bayati. *Samâi Shad Araban - Shet Araban Saz Semaisi. Composed by

Tanburi Cemil Bey Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman tanbur, Turkish tambur, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) ...

. *Samâi Husseyni. Composed by Tatyos Efendi. *Samâi Nahawand - Nihavend Saz Semaisi. Composed by the son of Tanburi Cemil Bey : Mas'ud Cemil Bey.

Saz Semai 's Composers

was a noted composer of ''saz semai''. *Ismail Hakki Bey *Misirli Ibrahim Effendi

Bibliography

*Walter Feldman : "Music of the Ottoman court : Makam, composition in the early Ottoman instrumental repertoire" ; Intercultural Music Studies, 1996.

External links

''Saz semai'' page

Common Saz Semaisi

Saz Semai 's Composers

Bibliography

External links

See also