Through Ottoman, Turkish, and Jewish music-making this cultural history illuminates a multiethnic Ottoman art world and its transformations across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It explores cross-cultural flows often left out of histories focusing on Jewish communities in isolation, top-down political events, or national narratives. The genre under study, Maftirim music, is a paraliturgical sacred suite developing since the seventeenth century along with Ottoman court music. Based on oral histories and archival sources, the book frames music-making in terms of socio-economic practic ... More

Through Ottoman, Turkish, and Jewish music-making this cultural history illuminates a multiethnic Ottoman art world and its transformations across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It explores cross-cultural flows often left out of histories focusing on Jewish communities in isolation, top-down political events, or national narratives. The genre under study, Maftirim music, is a paraliturgical sacred suite developing since the seventeenth century along with Ottoman court music. Based on oral histories and archival sources, the book frames music-making in terms of socio-economic practices actualized in urban space. It argues that, despite Turkish Jewish emigration and political adversities in the Republic, it was through alternative venues and ongoing relationships with traditionalist musicians that Maftirim music continues today. The study concludes with an investigation of changing modes of transmission of the music, asking questions about authenticity, originals, and masters, as the music is reconstructed through new technologies for new audiences.