Mehter, which is the oldest and forefather of the all the military bands of the world, is a monument of the Turkish heroism and sovereignty
In 1289, the Anatolian Selçuk Emperor Giyasettin Mesut II sent a special horn team to Osman Gazi, who is the founder of the Ottoman Empire. This date is regarded as the first foundation of Mehter, but the history of Mehter dates back to the older times. The first documents of Turkish military music in history are encountered at the Orkhun Gokturk and Sine-Usu inscriptions, which is located in Mongolia, in the eight century. These inscriptions mentioned about tughs which means drum, big kettle drum, military band and standart.
In history, Mehter was encouraging and fortifying the national motive of Ottoman soldiers at the battlefields as well as placing fear in to the soul of the enmy.
The commander of the Mehter is called Çorbacıbaşı. He commands the janissaries and Mehter.
The standards are the honor signs of the army. The red standard represents the state, the green one represents the Islam, and the white one represents the independence.
Tughs, which are made of brass, are about 2,5 meters height. On tugh’s both sides of the top part, there are horsetail tassels. Tughs were used as the signs of military duties such as sultanate (emperor) and viziers.
The conductor of the Mehter Band is called Mehterbaşı. The performers are consisted of 6 instrumental groups which are zurna (shawm), boru (horn), nakkare (kettle drum), zil (cymbals), davul (drum) and kös (big kettle drum) and members of chorus called Çevgen.
The size and magnificence of a mehter was measured in terms of the number of each instruments. One fold mehter band is consisted of having one player of each instrument such as one shawm player, one horn player, one small ketlle drum player, one cymbals player, one drum player and dubled Cevgen.
The Mehter Band, which is currently a unit of Chief of The Turkish General Staff, represents The Ottoman Empire Janissary Mehter Band dated back eighteenth century. |