LE CHANT DES TROUBADOURS DE TURQUIE
ACHIK NESIMI
THE SINGING OF THE TURKISH TROUBADOURS
Anthologie de la musique des peuples, 1979, AMP 7 2905
Aşιk Nesimi Çimen (1931-1993) was what we call in French a bard, somebody who can sing old texts as well as his own compositions set on traditional or composed tunes. Nesimi was an Alevi and heir of a long tradition of singers politically concerned by the place of poor and oppressed people in the Ottoman and Turkish society. There are information in English about Nesimi's life and all the songs are translated.
The number of Alevi people is estimated at 25% of the total population but because they don't go to the mosque or fast during the ramadan, they are not considered as good muslims by the Sunnites. Women are not confined to domestic chores only but are active in the ceremonies with men. Nesimi sings a love poem by Latife Bacι.
The death of Nesimi on the 2nd of July 1993 is an example of that situation. Some Alevis went to Sivas to celebrate Pir Sultan Abdal, Nesimi among them. When the inhabitants of Sivas knew about this meeting some of them went to the hotel in order to stop or protest against the presence of these Alevis in Sivas a town known for its strict and rigorous practice of Islam. The police were there as well but didn't move when the crowd set fire to the place killing 37 and injuring dozens of participants. It was displayed on TV but the President of the Republic said publicly that it was ''an isolated act'' only not worth acting about it. Nobody was arrested afterward. I don't think that the global perception of the Alevis has changed since with Erdoǧan in power. About 100 000 persons were present at the victims' burial.
So this album is an important document; Nesimi recorded another album in France ''Chants de luttes révolutionnaires d'Anatolie'' in the sixties. If one of you has it I'd like to know.
Bonsoir Hervé,
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup pour toute la belle et rare musique que nous avons la chance d'apprécier grâce à toi.
Juste pour information, il existe un documentaire sorti en 1995 "Sivas - Terre des Poêtes" réalisé par Saïd Manafi et Werner T. Bauer sur la musique alévie. Nesimi Çimen y intervient. Il meurt durant le tournage, dans l'incendie à Sivas que tu évoques.
(http://www.film-documentaire.fr/4DACTION/w_fiche_film/35056)
Malheureusement je n'ai pas l'album ''Chants de luttes révolutionnaires d'Anatolie''
Merci encore!
Bonjour, merci d'avoir mentionné ce film dont j'ignorais l'existence. Ce disque (et cette collection en général) m'a toujours inspiré le plus grand intérêt musicalement et humainement. J'ai vu que l'autre album de Nesimi est introuvable apparemment. Mais peut-être qu'un autre passionné de ce genre de musique nous fera la bonne surprise de partager son exemplaire avec nous ?
DeleteMerci à toi de suivre ce blog.