Founded to bring Turkey’s rich cultural heritage to the world stage, the Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presented its special project “Anatolian Rhapsody” to music enthusiasts at a meeting held at Hilton Bosphorus Istanbul. Composing and arranging 4th generation Mehter works in a style suitable for 21st-century music forms, the Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra showcases a musical transformation in its project, collaborating with world-renowned musicians while highlighting human sensitivity through the universal language of music.
The Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra introduced its special project “Anatolian Rhapsody” at a meeting held at Hilton Bosphorus Istanbul. Blending traditional Mehteran tunes with modern interpretations and drawing inspiration from Hollywood’s musical world, the project was presented to listeners with a contemporary musical language. At the introduction of the project, notable new compositions such as “Heyhat İnsan” and “Vaveyla-Çocuk” were featured alongside traditional works like “Ceddin Deden” and “Plevne March,” which were rearranged as part of the “Anatolian Rhapsody” project.
In his speech at the meeting, the project’s producer Hamza Ören said, “The Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presents new generation Mehteran works that illuminate traditional Turkish culture in the light of the modern world in its pride-inducing special project Anatolian Rhapsody.”
At the meeting held under the consultancy of Orion Yapım, the founder of the Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Ayhan Özel, shared information about the history of Mehter, saying, “In the Ottoman Empire, Mehter was a military band affiliated with the Janissary Corps. The Mehter band aimed primarily to boost the morale and motivation of soldiers and to reinforce the national and spiritual feelings of those who listened. Mehteran military music has undergone various forms of change throughout history and has reached our day. In our Anatolian Rhapsody project, we composed and arranged 4th generation Mehter works in a style suitable for 21st-century music forms. Additionally, through collaborations with world-renowned musicians, we created a work of international musical significance.”
“We aimed to build a bridge between local and universal music”
Providing information about the project at the meeting, Dr. Ayhan Özel said, “With our Anatolian Rhapsody project, which started in 2019 and lasted about 5 years, we aimed to present various cultural elements of Anatolia to the audience in a polyphonic form, blending them with the universal language of music. Besides performing music in the polyphonic form of Western music, we also included works by composers from the Turkish World, aiming to build a bridge between local and universal music. In our Anatolian Rhapsody project, we worked with many musicians from different geographies who have performed in Hollywood film music projects. We carried out the studio recordings of the project at Bulgarian Recording Studio. Musicians like Nikola Petrov, Vladislav Boyadzhiev, Ronan Scolard, and Jeremy Leidhecker, who have signed international projects, took part in our project.”
While drawing attention to human sensitivity with the theme of “Human” and “Peace” in the new generation Mehteran, the Anatolia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra also aims to convey Turkey’s message of contribution to international peace through the most effective means, music.
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