Zen­çir

Revival and reinterpretation of 17th-century Ottoman court music, adapted to the ensemble’s distinctive and idiosyncratic sound.
Drawing on the repertoire collection of Demetrios Cantemir (Dimitri Kantemir), the band has compiled its own arrangements. Kantemir, a polyglot polymath, an extraordinary tanbur virtuoso and Prince of Moldavia, compiled over 350 Ottoman instrumental compositions using a notation system specially adapted for this purpose. Some of these pieces serve as the framework for a new musical universe in Zençir’s arrangement for oud, ney, transverse flute, drums and, for the first time, the reconstructed and newly constructed multi-tonal keyboard instruments Arciorgano and Clavemusicum Omnitonum, whilst remaining faithful to the detailed structure of the works in the collection.