Bozlaklar Essentials
Playlist - 49 Songs
To understand the Turkish folk style known as bozlak, which translates loosely as "songs of anguish," hear how Zara attacks the opening verse of “Şad Olup Gülmedim" (Sadly I Smile) before leaving her possibly illicit love in the roses. Bozlak originated among Central Anatolia's tribal shepherds as dramatic cries of despair about their lonely mountain lives. Giants of 20th-century Anatolian folk music like Muharrem Ertaş and Ekrem Çelebi proffer bluesy wails of despair, then resignation. Bozlak singers echo and intensify their suffering with striking improvisations on the bağlama, the seven-stringed lute that is Turkey's national instrument.
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