Socio-musical convergence and interaction in Direklerarası: commercialization of music in late Ottoman Istanbul

Abstract

Direkleraras & imath;, located in the centre of intramural Istanbul, was the unrivalled hub of Ramadan entertainment from the 1880s to the 1920s with its teahouses, literary caf & eacute;s, spectacles, theatres, and music concerts. Following the 1900s, this area also saw a concentration of music shops, publishers of sheet music and song collections, private music societies and schools. It became a melting pot where traditional and modern, 'Eastern' and 'Western', elite and popular music cultures converged, and intensely interacted, laying the foundations of Turkish popular music. This article aims to reveal the pivotal role Direkleraras & imath; played in the commercialization and transformation of music in late Ottoman Istanbul, with particular emphasis on the socio-musical convergence and interactions among various actors, venues and genres. For this purpose, Direkleraras & imath; is analysed as a local music scene that hosted various taste cultures, drawing from a diverse array of sources, including the contemporary Ottoman periodicals, memoirs, biographical accounts, advertisements, and theatre posters.