With its unique geographic location between East and the West, Turkey has been instrumental in the cross-fertilization of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Mediterranean cultures throughout history. As one of the most ancient areas of settlement in the world, Anatolia possesses a rare cultural diversity due to the influence of the large number of peoples who have lived there. This rich culture is reflected in Turkey’s music as well.

Traditional / Local music

It includes mostly anonymous songs that are generally created according to a standard form, played on public occasions in the region where they were composed and have survived to our day. It may be divided into the subheadings of folk music and Ottoman music.

MP3: http://www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/sanat_tr.asp?belgeno=35589

Contemporary Classical Turkish Music

Towards the middle of the 19th century, Ottoman music came under the influence of the Western classical tradition, which had by the turn of the century acquired a key role in the transformation of the earlier heavily monophonic structure into a polyphonic one. During the Republican period, the themes of traditional Turkish music became embedded in the musical values of the Western classical tradition and the genre developed a modern polyphonic structure.

MP3: http://www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/sanat_tr.asp?belgeno=19773

Pop music

In Turkey, the products of popular culture have been greatly diversified during the last quarter of the 20th century and currently appeal to a much wider clientele. By the turn of the 21st century, pop music has acquired the capacity to meet almost the entire demand for musical products in Turkey and to shape new trends.

MP3: http://www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/sanat_tr.asp?belgeno=19776