Abdülmecit Efendi’s painting Beethoven in the Harem, 1915
İstanbul was the heart of the Ottoman Empire where Sultans ruled with an iron fist. That is until the 19th century when the winds of modernisation have reached the shores of the Ottoman Empire with a stronger intensity. This was when Ottoman Sultans had greater interest in European music, painting and life style.
Emre Aracı published a book titled European Music at the Ottoman Court in 2000. The book completely changed my perception of the Ottoman Sultans and their families regarding their tastes and life styles. In the book, Aracı talks about the 19th Century Sultans and their families’ interest in European music and how some of them composed music themselves.
Here are some examples of the Sultans from the Ottoman Court who composed European music. It is a delight to see that not only Sultans but their daughters and wives were fascinated with European music and some of these court ladies also composed musical pieces themselves.
So let’s allow these rulers of the past to take us to their own worlds through music!
Sultan Abdülaziz (1830-1876)
5. Murat (1840-1904)
Refia Sultan (daughter of Abdülmecit) – 1842-1880
