Sons d'Anatolie. Ritournelles de l’arrière-pays

In this episode we will travel right into the heart of Turkey with Jérôme Cler, lecturer in ethnomusicology at Paris-Sorbonne University. Despite the variety of his cultural experiences, Cler’s interest has remained constantly focused on Asia Minor, first through his studies dedicated to the civilisation and language of ancient Greece and later through his field research on the oral music traditions of the Anatolian highlands.After learning to play the saz thanks to the teachings of Talip Özkan, one of the most important virtuosos of the instrument, and having made numerous trips to Anatolian villages, frequenting rural communities and participating in their social and religious rituals, Cler wrote the ethnographic account Ritournelles de l'arrière-pays. Musique et ethnographie en Turquie rurale published in 2025 by Éditions Mimésis and which is the result of thirty years of research in the south-west of the country.About Jérôme Cler After studying literature and specialising in medieval Greek, Jérôme Cler began learning to play the long-necked saz lute under the tutelage of master Talip Özkan, which led him to branch out into ethnomusicology, a subject he taught for 25 years at Sorbonne University. He has always favoured slow immersion in the ‘field’, which he frequented for three decades (1991-2025). His field of research is rural Turkey, in a peasant environment of nomadic ancestry, but he has also worked in Bulgaria (2008) and Colombia (2009-2011).Episode's musical sources listRitournelle, recording of Jérôme Cler: village de Tasavlu, avec Hayri Dev, Hasan Yıldırım, Zafer Dev.Kurdes Irak Unesco extrait, CD Unesco : Kurdish music, Auvidis D 8023 (1974/1989), «Naghma Jabali We Binafshé»Talip Ozkan / taksim dersi bozlak, « leçon de Taksim ». Field recording of Jérôme Cler 1992 https://youtu.be/25_ihcKZxAo?feature=sharedTalip Ozkan / taksim dersi bozlak, une chanson de la région de Denizli. Recording of Jérôme Cler 1992 https://youtu.be/25_ihcKZxAo?feature=sharedHayri HasanGizli Düdük, recording of Jérôme Cler. Le gizli düdük « sifflet secret » "Turquie - Voyages D'Alain Gheerbrant En Anatolie (1956-1957) Ocora-radio-france 1985 « nefes : un haut pilier au centre de l’univers » extraitBiz bektaşi gulleriyiz (We are the bektaşi roses) recording of Jérôme Cler in Tekke 2011 cf. CD Turquie : cérémonie de djem bektashi, la tradition d’Abdal Musa, OCORA-Radio-France 2012Babalar semahi début plus babalar transition. Jérôme Cler, recording November 1997 : début du semai des baba plus transition vers la modulation de la 2è partie du semahSemah, Alevi-Bektaşi ritual https://youtu.be/e2zsCoNnfg8?feature=sharedAl beni - Zafer, recording of Jérôme Cler 1995 Zafer Dev, fils de Hayri Dev, chante accompagné par Hauri et HasanDisclaimerMediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.