Parisian composer Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opéra-ballet Les Indes galantes is placed in dialogue with the works of Tanburi Mustafa Çavuş, a court composer from the Ottoman Empire. Though the two lived in the second half of the 18th century, they never met—and composed in vastly different musical languages. Yet when their works are brought together, a striking new style of Baroque music emerges.
„Rameau, whatever one may think, is definitely a key figure in music, and we can follow in his footsteps without fear of sinking into any pitfalls.“ So declared none other than Claude Debussy in 1912, hailing Rameau’s operas for their charm, their finely wrought forms, and their ability to express sensibility through harmony itself. Rameau brought a new level of nobility and emotional depth to music theatre. His operas—beginning in 1733 with Hippolyte et Aricie, written when he was already fifty—often drew on classical mythology. But by 1735, in Les Indes galantes, Rameau had begun to embrace more exotic and worldly themes.
This opéra-ballet journeys through Peru, Persia, North America, and the Indian Ocean, where it opens with the story of the Turkish pasha Osman, who liberates his slave Emilie and her lover Valère. This tale of the noble Turk would later echo in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
In Rameau à la Turque, bassoonist and composer Burak Özdemir explores the emotional and musical riches of Les Indes galantes—a masterwork from the height of the French Baroque. Özdemir selects and reimagines airs from the prologue and all four acts of the opera, arranging them for bassoon and imbuing them with a lyrical, vocal-like tone.
For a second layer of dialogue, Özdemir returns to his Turkish roots by reviving instrumental versions of songs by Tanburi Mustafa Çavuş. Performed by three Turkish musicians, these Ottoman Baroque pieces open a powerful conversation across time and geography—between East and West, between two visionary composers, and between contrasting traditions of art music.
Listen—and be astonished.
Out on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
Available on all platforms
