Istanbul. Image by Kara Sabahat. Published under a creative common license

İstanbulu dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı
I am listening to Istanbul intently, my eyes closed
Önce hafiften bir rüzgar esiyor
At first breeze gently rises
Yavaş yavaş sallanıyor
Slowly, slowly swing
Yapraklar, ağaçlarda;
The leaves on the trees
Uzaklarda, çok uzaklarda,
Water-carriers ceaselessly ringing their bells
Sucuların hiç durmayan çıngırakları
I am listening to Istanbul intently, my eyes closed
İstanbul’u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı

— Orhan Veli

With closed eyes we too will listen to Istanbul. Not so much to the water carriers, the birds, and the bazars as Orhan Veli did in his timeless poem on the sounds of Istanbul. But rather our ears will follow the plentitude of musics that are flowing out of this wonder-ful metropolis that connects the European and Asian continents in one big sonic jungle.

Istanbul is going to be European Capital of Culture in 2010 and in preparation of the big festivities zeitschichten.com is going to explore with you the New Music scene of Europe’s largest city. Over the next year or so we will introduce you to some of the most exiting new music that is being composed, improvised, and performed in Istanbul today.

In a series of short articles my colleague Yaprak Melike Uyar and I will introduce new recordings of contemporary works, interview composers and performers, uncover the best venues for avantgarde music, and thus hopefully open up the musical treasure trove of Turkey’s most exiting city for you.

As always, please let us know what you think! We are looking forward to any comments you may have.

İstanbulu dinliyoruz, gözlerimiz kapalı