eliot - 4-23-2005 at 02:23 PM
Reading Sonia Seeman's dissertation on Rom musicians in Istanbul, it appears that the very first recording artist was a Rom women oud virtuoso and
singer named Nasip Hanim. She apparently recorded a number of classical works: fasil, sarki, and some heavier works in 1900-1910, and was quite
popular.
I've never seen any reissues of her playing, though, nor do I have any other information on her. Anyone here heard of her?
freya - 4-25-2005 at 06:46 AM
Interesting. Is this thesis avaialble for download from the web?
Thanks,
Harry Norris
eliot - 4-25-2005 at 11:08 AM
It's available on UMI dissertations (print or pdf)... since she's working on a book version of the same material I kinda doubt she'd allow it to be
freely circulated on the web.
I came across a second reference to Nasip Hanim in Cemal Unlu's book "Git Zaman Gel Zaman" on the history of the recording industry in Turkey, but it
seems they both cite the same source. Still no recordings yet... must find! Must find!
oudmaker - 4-25-2005 at 04:01 PM
Eliot
Hasib Hanim should be Hasibe Hanim. Hasib is a name for men. Hasibe is for women. Rom musician or Rom hasib hanim means Hasib Hanim was a Greek woman.
In Turkish Rum means Greek.
Finally Hanende (Singer) Hasibe Hanim is the first recorded Turkish women singer. She was not an oudist but She was a very famous singer of her time.
Story goes that a Prince??? liked her singing so much that he fill her mouth with gold!!! She died 1952 and She has a composed song "Elmaliya
yanginim.."Some says she vas a Gypsy girl. I did not hear the recording of her If somebody really interested in to listen it should do some research
in "His Master's Voice" label.
Regards
Dincer
oudmaker - 4-25-2005 at 04:03 PM
Sorry guys
The name is Hanende Nasibe Hanim.
Dincer
eliot - 4-25-2005 at 06:09 PM
Thanks, Dincer - In the 1903 D.P. Zonophone catalogue, however, there are a couple sides by "Udi Nasip Hanim", who Seeman assumed was the same as the
singer Nasip Hanim, as anecdotal evidence indicated she began as a classical oudist and later became a singer when female performance of instruments
became discouraged. It's these that I'm looking for, since they would possibly mark the first oud recordings ever in Turkey as well as some of the
only female oud recordings from that period. I actually don't know if ANY of these 1903-5 Zonophone recordings survived.
Nasip is a somewhat popular Rom female name to this day, but perhaps "Hasibe" is how it would be written in Greek?
Jonathan - 4-25-2005 at 06:29 PM
Those early DP Zonophones are so tough to find. I found X103034 (Isfahan Charki by Mme Victoria), and it is one of the earliest Turkish recordings I
have found. I wish wish wish there were more re-releases of this super early recorded Turkish music. Eliot, do you know of any re-issues of the
early DP Zonophone catalog?
eliot - 4-25-2005 at 07:54 PM
Don't know a thing - but I'll check in Turkey when I go there in September. Maybe Cem Behar knows of some re-releases of this stuff, and I'll try to
look up Cemal Unlu and see if he knows (he wrote about it, after all)...
Where did you find Isfahan Sarki, Jonathan?
Jonathan - 4-25-2005 at 08:09 PM
A guy in Turkey actually wrote me saying he had it, and I got it from him. So, I guess "found" isn't the right word. I used to have a website up
listing a bunch of old Turkish 78s. I thought that maybe it was Victoria Hazan, a Sephardic Jewish singer who did some incredible recordings in the
1940s in New York, often backed by one of my favorite oudists, Marko Melcon. Turns out it wasn't her--it just couldn't be because of the dates. But,
still, glad to have it. Something about those old 78s I just love--it just really transports you to another time and place. And the music is often
just amazing. Not always, but often.
Nasip Hanim's picture
veyselmusic - 4-26-2005 at 05:27 AM
Nasip Hanim's picture
Another old picture with women playing ud
mavrothis - 5-6-2005 at 08:30 AM
Hi guys,
Found another old picture of a group mostly made up of women musicians on a Turkish album.
Check it out (the tambur has the soundhole in the front...)
mav
John Erlich - 5-6-2005 at 09:55 AM
Hi Eliot,
I am curious what, if anything, Prof. Martin Schwartz had to say about this.
All the best,
John "Udi Yohanan" Erlich