Copy of Cantemir's music book presented to Romanian gov't
A rare copy of "Cartea stiintei muzicii dupa felul literelor" (The book of the science of music according to the letters), written by Dimitrie Cantemir, whose original version is in Turkey, was presented to the Romanian government at a ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, told Agerpres.
Turkish ambassador to Romania Ozgur Kivanc Altan, who mentioned the centennial of the Turkish Republic, 145 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Romania and, at the same time, the 350th birth anniversary of Cantemir, said that Cantemir's life represents "the personification of our common history."
"Polymath, historian, geographer, musicologist, architect and consummate politician, he went down in the memory of both Turkey and Romania," said the Turkish diplomat.
He praised the personality of Cantemir, "the polyglot specialising in Ottoman Turkish and Arabic languages and literatures," "a brilliant composer of Ottoman classical music," who "contributed significantly to the preservation of Turkish music by devising an original system of notation, with which he wrote the 'Book of the Science of Music,' as well as the one who was "one of the first historians of the Ottoman Empire, the author of the book 'The history of the growth and decay of the Othman empire.'"
"Today, a copy of the book will be handed over to her Excellency Mrs Raluca Turcan, the minister of culture, on the occasion of the 'Dimitrie Cantemir Cultural Year' 2023. (...) As you can see, the ties between Turkey and Romania have never been limited to the political and economic spheres only. Our ties have always included numerous fields and at the highest level," said the Turkish ambassador.
In her turn, Culture Minister Raluca Turcan highlighted the importance of the event, which highlights a masterpiece of cultural heritage, a valuable historical resource for all those interested in the study and history of music.
She added that the Romanian-Turkish cultural ties have experienced a wide development through a series of events in the field of music, literature and arts, organised in both countries, recalling Romania's annual presence at the Istanbul International Book Fair, which marks another point of reference for the development of ties between the two countries.
Turcanu voiced her conviction that the deep ties between the two countries will develop even more in the future.
The ceremony, organised by the Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Bucharest and the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Institute, was followed by a piano concert by Evren Kutlay performing "From the Sultan to the Queen," created in 1876 and given to Queen Elisabeta of Romania by Sultan Abdulhamid II.
The event was organised to mark the centennial of the Republic of Turkey and the Dimitrie Cantemir Cultural Year.
The original of Cantemir's book is with the Turkish State Archives in Istanbul.
According to historian Theodor E. Ulieriu-Rostas, the book is part of the Ottoman tradition, but it also proposes several innovations, including a musical notation system based on the Arabic alphabet. The treatise is accompanied by a collection of 355 instrumental pieces notated in Cantemir's system, which represents the "capital source" of knowledge of the music of the Ottoman masters from the 17th century. Nine of these are the author's own compositions.
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