I recently asked Michael Jamieson Bristow for any advice he had, and he sent me some sheet music of Turkish anthems pre-WWI. I've been doing some more research into Ottoman anthems, and the situation gets more knots in it each time I look! It was rather composed by Camille Saint-Saens and attributed and presented to the sultan. The other one is "Resadiyye Marsi," composed for the excellency of Sultan Mehmed V "Resad " but not the official one. One of them is the official imperial march during the reign of Abdülhamid II: "Mars-i Âli Hamidî" AKA "Hamidiyye Marsi." This is the monophonic version of the march (base melody) as I couldn't find the sheet of the polyphonic one. PS: I have a couple of Ottoman imperial marches in midi format and I'm uploading it via yousendit as I don't know a better method. The first national anthem of Turkey in the modern sense is the current one, which was accepted during Turkish War of Independence. They were usually played by the Imperial Band of the empire ("Muzika-i Hümayun") during imperial ceremonies but the majority of the Ottoman public possibly did never hear any of these. I have to remark that no matter how these were official imperial marches they should not be regarded as national anthems of today. Sultan Mehmed VI: Mahmudiyye Marsi was used. Sultan Mehmed V: Resadiyye Marsi, by Italo Selvelli Sultan Abdülhamid II: Mars-i Âli Hamidî, by Yesarizade Ahmed Necib Pasa (first Ottoman imperial march with lyrics) Sultan Murad V: Mecidiyye Marsi was used.
Sultan Abdülaziz: Aziziyye Marsi, by Callisto Guatelli Sultan Abdülmecid: Mecidiyye Marsi, by Giuseppe Donizetti The following rulers and the corresponding imperial marches are: The first Ottoman imperial march was "Mahmudiyye Marsi", composed by Giuseppe Donizetti in 1831 for Sultan Mahmud II. Since the fall of Hungary in the late 17th Century to the Holy Alliance of Europe, this folk song has also implied the separation from the old Turkish lands, including Estergon.Īs davidk mentioned, the official imperial march of the Ottoman Empire changed in accordance with the change of the sultan. These lyrics belong to an old Turkish folk song telling about separation from lover, by referring to the Fortress of Estergon (Esztergom, presently in Hungary) in the first line. (I've sent an email to both Michael Bristow and Reinhard Popp asking for their expert opinions.) Doing some research, I don't think those lyrics match any of the Ottoman anthems in use, they seem to be somethign we would file under the category "Other Patriotic Songs and Marches" of Turkey.
Goodness knows whether *any* of these (including the Donizetti pieces) were ever a national anthem in the proper sense.īTW, Amerauder's lyrics match what used to be on Wikipedia's, until I changed it. There are a ton of other semi-official marches and anthems. It seems that the Ottoman Sultans in the early-to-mid 19th century followed the practice of some European monarchies in having national anthems written for each monarch to the letter, since the marches above commemorate Mahmud II, Abdülmecit II, and Abülaziz I. There is definitely a later (1861) Aziziye March (by a chap called Guatelli, if I remember correctly). I believe that there is an earlier march, the "Mahmudiye".
The mp3 you have listed as the Ottoman anthem is the Mecidiye March (1839), composed by Giuseppe Donizetti (brother to the opera composer).