Galata Mevlevi Ensemble

Here you find some documentation of the international activities  from 1994 - 2000 by the Istanbul based Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble under the spiritual and artistic guidance of Sheik Nail Kesova.
In 2008, the Sema ceremonies of the Mevlevi had been recogized and inscribed by the UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Steeped in the tradition of the most sophisticated Sufis and musicians since the Early Ottoman times, the Galata Mevlevi Ensemble had been considered one of the most respected of the recent genereation. For more than 30 years young and experienced musicians and dancers joined the brotherhood of the “whirling derwishes” under the spiritual and artistic leadership of Sheik Nail Kesova. In 1994 he received personal permission by the 21st grandson of the founder of the religious brotherhood and order to hold own ceremonies according to the Mevlevi traditions and thus, to act as Sheik.
The Galata Mevlevi Ensemble brought on stage the beauty and spirituality of the Sema, the Mevlevi whirling ritual accompanied by the traditional Mevlevi music: “Like a grain of dust which revolves around the sun” – through their religious dancing ritual, the dervishes leave the earth, revolve around God and merge with the truth. The dervishes whirl from right to left to their own heart and thereby embrace humanity and all creation. At the end they return as humans, more mature and in greater spiritual perfection.

Already the founder of the brotherhood, Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, was an extraordinary musician, playing the stringed spike fiddle “rebab”, although his most loved instrument had been the flute “ney”. He developed complex liturgical music that was performed by his followers on special occasions for moral and spiritual pleasure. In the monasteries of the brotherhood, especially in the Istanbul Tekke in the neighbourhood of Galata, the most advanced musicians were trained and educated until the 20th century. Sheik Nail Kesova composed various liturgical pieces for the group. 

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