Arabesque (Turkish: Arabesk) is a type of music from Turkey that is also enjoyed in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. This style was very popular in Turkey from the 1960s until the 2000s. Over time, its features have changed and continue to develop into the 2010s. Arabesque music often uses the bağlama, a traditional string instrument, and includes sounds from Middle Eastern music. The music is usually played in a minor key, often using the Phrygian mode. Common themes in Arabesque music include feelings of longing, conflict, and desire.
Description and history
A very small part of arabesque music is played without singing. For most of it, a singer is at the center of the music. In the early years of the genre, male singers were more common. However, female singers likely became more common during the genre's most popular years. At the same time, as more female singers joined, the music became more danceable and lively.
Suat Sayın is usually considered the founder of the genre. Other well-known older singers include Orhan Gencebay, Ferdi Tayfur, Müslüm Gürses, and Hakkı Bulut. One of the most successful and productive singers is İbrahim Tatlıses. He set records for music sales in Turkey in 1978 and continues to create popular songs today. He has kept his popularity in recent years by remixing his songs into dance-friendly club music. The arabesque album "Acıların Kadını" (Woman of Pains) by the singer Bergen was the best-selling album in Turkey in 1986 and is often considered a classic of the genre. Bergen had several other successful arabesque albums in the 1980s. Other singers include Ebru Gündeş, Seda Sayan, and Sibel Can. The singers Muazzez Ersoy and Bülent Ersoy describe themselves as modern performers of Ottoman classical music. Zerrin Özer made arabesque albums between 1982 and 1988, including her 1984 album "Mutluluklar Dilerim." Important arabesque musicians who died in 2000 include Ahmet Kaya. Another important musician who died in 2012 was Azer Bülbül. Another important musician who died in 2017 was İbrahim Erkal.
A common theme in arabesque songs is the detailed and emotional description of love, longing, unreturned love, sadness, and pain. This theme had connections to class differences during the 1960s and 1970s, when most fans of the genre, who were mostly working-class or lower-middle-class people, identified with it. Turkish composer Fazıl Say has strongly criticized the arabesque genre, saying that listening to it is "tantamount to treason."