Stadler, von Hussard, and the Mevlevi ayin
Abstract
The early nineteenth-century notations, with piano accompaniment, of vocal sections of the Mevlevi ceremony made by Maximilian Stadler (1748-1833) have been dismissed by Turkish scholars as distorted beyond recognition. Contrary to this assessment, it is argued that, systematic inaccuracies notwithstanding, they correspond quite well to what may be assumed to be the performance norms of the Mevlevi repertoire at the turn of the nineteenth century, and that, far from being mere curiosities of interest solely to students of Orientalism, they are of value as historical documents indicative of stylistic change within the Ottoman tradition.
Submitted: Feb. 9, 2026 | Accepted: March 10, 2026 | Published Forthcoming | Language: en
Keywords Turkish classical music • Historical ethnomusicology • Ottoman music • Orientalism • Mevlevi ayin
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