This thesis is about the presentation of the Turks in operas of the West-ern European nations. I will have a look at which different roles where used to describe the Turks. In the sense of this paper the term “Turk” does not restrict its perspective to the area of the modern Republic of Turkey. As, for example, Preibisch (1908, p13) notes: during the 18th century composers did not distinguish between, for example, Persia and Turkey. Pahlen (1980, p12) even suggests that the whole Arabian community was regarded as Turkish. Moreover, except other Arabian countries sometimes even China and India were regarded as “Turkey” (Whaples 1998, p4). To be precise, this inaccuracy can be applied to a lot of other countries that were part of the Ottoman Empire like Egypt, Algeria, and so on. However, although some of the operas that will be discussed in this paper do not play in Turkey or contain Turkish charac-ters but are placed in neighboring countries of the Ottoman Empire or contain characters from these countries, these works will also be dis-cussed because from the perspective of our ancestors, they all display Turkish elements. The definition of Turkish that will be used in this pa-per is therefore similar to that used by Griffel (1975, p85ff) and is based on a rather dynamic concept. This means, when analyzing an opera concerning its “Turkishness”, the common perspective of the time has to be kept in mind.
Apart from that, I will analyze how the typical characters changed over the course of time keeping in mind the historical background. This is achieved by comparing similar characters from different operas with each other.
As we will see, basically the timeline can be separated in three different parts. In the baroque-period the Turks were generally viewable in heroic roles which fitted to the concept of the opera seria. Then, the upcoming of the opera buffa made it possible to exaggerate elements of Turkish culture and characters in order ridicule them. On the other side, due to the beliefs of the Era of Enlightenment, Turkish characters were used as a mean to show the deficiencies of European culture.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Turks
2.1 Historical Overview
2.1.1 Rise …
2.1.2 … and Fall of the Ottoman Empire
2.2 The Opinion of Europeans
3. Turkish Music and its Imitations
3.1 Military Music
3.1.1 Janissary Music
3.1.1.1 Instrumentation
3.1.1.2 Music
3.1.1.3 Reception
3.1.2 Alla Turca Style
3.2 Other Styles
3.3 After the late 18th Century
4. Overview of Operas
4.1 Italian
4.2 French
4.3 English
4.4 German
4.5 Interim Results
5. “Opera-Turks” in Detail
5.1 Monarchs
5.1.1 The Historical Monarch
5.1.1.1 Handel’s Bajazet
5.1.1.2 Rossini’s Maometto II
5.1.2 The Generous Pasha
5.1.2.1 Mozart’s Bassa Selim
5.1.2.2 Weber’s Sultan Harun
5.1.2.3 Neefe’s Pasha
5.1.3 The Cruel Pasha
5.1.3.1 Mozart’s Soliman
5.1.3.2 Lortzing’s Ali Pasha
5.1.3.3 Weber’s “Turkish Rulers”
5.1.3.4 Wranitzky’s Pasha
5.2 Guards and Henchmen
5.2.1 Mozart’s Osmin
5.2.2 Weber’s Omar
5.2.3 Gluck’s Calender
5.2.4 Neefe’s Mehmet
5.3 Funny and Stupid Turks
5.3.1 Haydn’s “Fake Turks” in “Lo Speciale”
5.3.2 Gluck’s Osmin
5.3.3 Cornelius’ Barber
5.3.4 Lully’s Turkish Ceremony
5.3.5 Gluck’s Cadi
5.3.6 Rossini’s Mustafa
5.4 Women
5.4.1 Weber’s “Oberon”
5.4.2 Gluck’s Slaves
5.4.3 Mozart’s Zaide
5.5 Miscellaneous Elements
5.5.1 Lully’s Turkish Ceremony
5.5.2 Gluck’s “La Rencontre imprevue”
5.5.3 Rameau’s “Les Indes Galantes”
5.5.4 Mozart’s “Entführung aus dem Serail”
5.5.5 Lortzing’s “Ali Pasha”
5.5.6 Neefe’s “Adelheit von Veltheim”
5.5.7 Weber’s “Abu Hassan”
5.5.8 Weber’s “Oberon or The Elf King’s Oath”
5.5.9 Wranitzky’s “Oberon, König der Elfen”
5.5.10 Spohr’s “Zemire und Azor
5.5.11 Gluck’s “Le Cadi dupe”
5.6 Résumé
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This thesis examines the representation of Turks in Western European operas, analyzing how shifting political and cultural relationships between the Ottoman Empire and Europe influenced the musical and character portrayal of Turks on the operatic stage over several centuries. The central research question explores how Turkish roles evolved from early heroic and barbaric stereotypes towards more nuanced characters, and how composers utilized specific musical imitations to construct these portrayals.
- Historical context of Ottoman-European relations and their impact on public perception.
- Musical analysis of "Turkish" elements, specifically the development of alla turca style.
- Categorization of Turkish character archetypes, including monarchs, guards, and "funny Turks."
- Comparison of various operatic works to identify common stereotypes and evolutionary trends in character development.
- Exploration of how Enlightenment ideals and Romanticism shaped the operatic "Other."
Excerpt from the book
3.1.1.1 Instrumentation
But let us get back to how the Europeans got to know this style of music. As mentioned earlier, contact with Turkish culture was in great parts through war. Since the Turks had the habit to strengthen the morale of their troops by supporting it with a mehter, the defending units were also in the position to listen to this type of music. Moreover, extensive cultural exchange in the 18th century included also exchange in the area of music. Sometimes mehters were given to European courts as presents or were even ordered by European monarchs, like for example by the Polish and the Russian courts in the 1720s (Hunter 1998, p43). And even Austria had the opportunity to hear an original mehter when in 1665 the Turkish emissary Kara Mehmed Aga came to Vienna and brought such a band with him (Jäger 1996, c1324).
A mehter was a music band which could vary in size, depending on the importance of the situation and the availability of musicians and instruments. However, it normally consisted of about 50 players (Schmitt 1988, p261). The term is derived from the Persian words mih (big) and ter (very big) (Jäger 1996, c1318). It is not sure when the first mehter in its standard instrumentation was founded since military music had a long tradition in the Turkish Empire. However, due to the special connection of the mehters and the Janissaries, the founding date of the elite troop (1329) may give us a vague idea about when the first mehter started working.
There weren’t any special restrictions on the size of a typical mehter but normally there were about nine players of each instrument in a mehter. In Figure I we can see a typical mehter:
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Provides an overview of the conflict-ridden historical relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe and defines the scope of this thesis regarding the "Turkish" identity in opera.
2. The Turks: Examines the historical rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of European public opinion regarding "the Turk" as a brutal and barbaric opponent.
3. Turkish Music and its Imitations: Details the transition of Janissary military music into the alla turca style, exploring how European composers imitated perceived Turkish musical traits.
4. Overview of Operas: Surveys the landscape of "Turkish" operas across Italian, French, English, and German traditions, highlighting the recurrence of specific plot archetypes like the abduction.
5. “Opera-Turks” in Detail: Analyzes specific character types—monarchs, guards, and humorous figures—to demonstrate how social status and gender roles shaped operatic portrayals.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, noting how the image of the Turk evolved from an existential threat into a subject of exotic fantasy and artistic reflection.
Keywords
Opera, Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Alla Turca, Janissary, Orientalism, Musicology, Character Stereotypes, Abduction Plots, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Exoticism, Musical Imitation, 1001 Nights, Cultural Perception
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this thesis?
This work explores the depiction of Turks in Western European operas, focusing on how cultural prejudices, political conflicts, and musical imitation shaped the portrayal of Turkish characters on the stage.
What are the main thematic areas of the research?
The study centers on the historical relationship between Europe and the Ottoman Empire, the development of musical "Turkishness" (alla turca), and the categorization of frequent operatic character stereotypes.
What is the overarching research goal?
The goal is to determine how the presentation of Turkish characters changed over time and to identify specific musical and dramaturgical trends that defined these operatic portrayals.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The author uses historical analysis to establish context and comparative musicology to analyze how composers translated "Turkish" elements into European operatic structures.
What topics are discussed in the main part of the thesis?
The main part of the work provides a detailed analysis of specific roles such as monarchs, guards, and women, and examines how specific musical techniques were used to convey "exotic" or "primitive" traits.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include: Opera, Ottoman Empire, Alla Turca, Orientalism, Musicology, Stereotypes, Abduction, and Musical Imitation.
Why did the author specifically analyze Handel’s Tamerlane?
Handel's work is analyzed as a representative example of how Baroque opera portrayed the "historical monarch" and how these portrayals reflected the period's lack of genuine knowledge about Turkish culture.
What role does the alla turca style play in the author’s argument?
The author argues that alla turca was often used not for authentic representation, but as a "wrong-note style" to convey cultural superiority and to mock the perceived primitiveness of the Turkish characters.
- Quote paper
- Dipl.-Kfm., Mag. art. Christoph Yew (Author), 2009, The Turk on the Opera Stage, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/141533
