Kairos Collective | Pîrî Reis

Review of Pîrî Reis in Folk Magazine

Pîrî Reis is the result of a six-day gathering in Crete, where five Greek musicians studied, performed and recorded the compositions of Michiel van der Meulen. Michiel van der Meulen is Dutch, a musician, and plays bass guitar with the Rudemood Blues Band from Utrecht. Professionally, he is a survey geologist (Head of Mapping at the Geological Survey of the Netherlands). Music is his great passion, and for this album he drew inspiration from the modal makam music of Istanbul. Pîrî Reis means something like “Captain Piri” and refers to the Ottoman admiral and cartographer of that name. Piri’s exceptional maps also served as a source of inspiration for some of Michiel’s compositions. Percussion, oud, violin, ney and kanun invite us to enjoy these tranquil Eastern sounds. Ney is an Old Persian word meaning “reed”, and the instrument is an end-blown flute with six finger holes, also known as an Arabic flute. Anyone who has listened to Arabic music will undoubtedly recognise the distinctive sound of this instrument. The kanun is a kind of trapezoidal zither with 26 sets of triple strings and an adjustment mechanism, as Turkish music also makes use of quarter tones and eighth tones. The six pieces on the album are serene Eastern musical narratives, and at times I cannot shake the impression that the movement of the sea and the waves may have provided the foundation for compositions such as those found on Pîrî Reis. Lovers of relaxed oriental music will certainly find much to appreciate here.

Jo Delehaye

© 2018 Folk Magazine

Review of Pîrî Reis in MixedWorldMusic.com

Michiel van der Meulen – Pîrî Reis: Contemporary modal music

Augustus 4, 2017

Toumilou / Xango
Michiel van der Meulen delivered his examination workpiece, and as far as I’m concerned he passed cum laude. He set himself the task of composing several works according to the principles of modal music—more specifically, in the style of makam music from Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire. To familiarise himself with this tradition, he attended various courses with Ross Daly, a leading teacher in the field, who lives on Crete.

Placing oneself within the framework of the makam is a form of voluntary confinement. The composer must adhere to a number of rules. “By makam one understands a set of prescriptions that determine the melody’s opening, the scale(s) to be used, its overall course, points of repose and conclusion.” (W. Swets: Traditional Turkish Art Music, KRO, 1983). Call it a challenge. Unlike Western music, modal music is monophonic and has no harmony or bass line. That too presents a challenge: the composer and musician are given the opportunity to explore fully the rich possibilities of a tonal system.

Michiel van der Meulen takes the listener on his own voyages of discovery through various makams. With growing amazement, you experience the beauty of the scales, rhythms and compositional forms he employs. All six works radiate an almost meditative tranquillity, which is essential in order to appreciate their enchanting and subtle melodic turns. Each composition has its own character and a fully developed internal coherence. The Saz Semâîs always conclude in a light-hearted 6/8 metre. Here, Michiel allows himself to let go of the seriousness and introduces unexpectedly folk-like and joyful passages. The works are performed by five erudite Greek musicians on violin, ney, kanun, ûd and percussion. Michiel is fortunate to have such gifted and accomplished musicians at his disposal. In the world of makam music, the intention is not for performers simply to play the notes as written. Quite the opposite: the musician is expected to embellish, reshape and enrich the notes with ornamentation, variation and improvisation. In this way, the performer becomes part of the creative process. Praise is therefore due for this outstanding performance, in which the musicians presumably did not play merely what Michiel wanted, but what he had dreamed of! You can hear the pleasure they take in making the compositions their own, introducing subtle arrangements (with changing combinations of instruments). And at a certain point they completely let go in free improvisations—for example, in the second piece, ‘Kürdi Saz Semâî’.

Praise is also due for the artwork, both of the CD cover and of the accompanying volume of sheet music published at the same time. In a nutshell, Michiel discusses the theory of micro-intervals and the rhythms employed. He also reflects on his great inspiration, Wouter Swets (1930–2016), who was a master at composing “interludes” for the folk music of the Balkans and Anatolia.

(Crispijn Oomes)

© 2017 MixedWorldMusic.com

Review of Pîrî Reis in New Folk Sounds

Reviews / Greek, instrumental, makam, oriental, tonal / by Marius Roeting

The six compositions on this CD all come from the pen of Dutch composer Michiel van der Meulen. They were recorded on Crete over the course of six days by Greek musicians: Maija Katsouna (percussion), Yorgos Mavromanolakis (oud), Giorgos Papaioannou (violin), Manolis Kanakakis (kanun) and Harris Lambrakis (ney).

The music, however, is inspired by Ottoman culture and is musically connected to the makam traditions of Eastern music. The title refers to the medieval Turkish cartographer Pîrî. Like cartography, the music is detailed and structured, yet leaves ample room for interpretation and even variation, resulting in a journey with—perhaps—a known destination, but one filled with surprises, wonder and discovery along the way.

The music is often unison: kanun, oud and ney play the same melody, followed by the violin, with percussion providing support. Modality is the defining principle of this musical journey, rather than the familiar system of polyphonic chords found in Western music. The compositions are given ample space to unfold, with durations that exceed those of the average song. Nevertheless, I would have happily welcomed a longer CD, which runs to just under forty minutes. It is my only criticism of an otherwise very good production.

© 2017 New Folk Sounds

I am the last person to claim any real knowledge of music theory, but the term “modal music” perhaps does require some explanation. The term derives from the Latin modus, meaning “way” or “manner”. In musical terminology, “modal” music usually refers to the way notes are organised in church music, particularly Gregorian chant. The arrangement of notes—which could simply be called “scales”—determines where the whole tones and semitones occur, how they relate to one another and how they relate to the fundamental note.

Difficult? Not really, especially if you have this CD to hand. The person behind the project is Dutch composer Michiel van der Meulen, who over the past years has developed his skills in writing “modal” compositions, among others through study with the great Ross Daly. His work is based on the makam music of Istanbul, which draws extensively on the various modes that were used throughout the centuries in the Ottoman Empire.

With these compositions, Van der Meulen travelled to Crete, where an ensemble of five outstanding musicians rehearsed and recorded them over the course of a week. The album title refers to a 15th-century Ottoman admiral and cartographer. One of his maps adorns both the cover and the disc itself, and, for the sake of completeness, I can also mention that there is a square in Amsterdam named after him. But I admit that all of this says very little about the music on this album.

There is only one way I can describe this music: it is breathtaking. Beauty by the yard—that is what you hear here. For forty minutes you are immersed in the most exquisite sounds produced by the oud, violin, ney—that is, a type of flute—kanun—a variant of the zither somewhat resembling a dulcimer—and percussion.

I do not know any of the musicians personally, but I can say that their interplay is truly phenomenal. Either this is due to the clarity of the compositions, or to the musicians’ skill, or perhaps we are simply dealing here with more than outstanding professionals who have completely understood the music and know how to perform it exactly as the composer intended.

The message is very simple: sit down, put on the CD, and surrender to the incredible power and beauty of these six extended pieces. Images will naturally begin to appear in your mind’s eye, and you will find yourself on a remarkable musical journey. A Pîrî Reis, in this case. I have not heard an album this beautiful in a very long time. Anyone visiting Villa H. in the coming weeks will certainly know it…

(Dani Heyvaert)

© 2017 Rootstime

Review of Pîrî Reis in Moors Magazine

Contemporary modal music

Michiel van der Meulen wrote a number of contemporary modal compositions over the past few years, travelled to Crete and recorded them there in just six days with five musicians he greatly admires. As a result, an adventurous journey into the world of modal music has become accessible to us as listeners as well.

Part of the inspiration comes from the makam music of Istanbul, where the various modal traditions of the vast Ottoman Empire more or less came together. The album’s title also refers to this world. Captain Piri was a legendary Ottoman admiral and cartographer of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who created extraordinary maps. These, in turn, served as inspiration for Van der Meulen’s approach to composition, which can itself be seen as a kind of voyage of discovery.

The decision to record the music in Crete with Greek musicians has worked out wonderfully, because these five musicians sound truly magnificent together. Marija Katsouna on percussion, Yorgos Mavromanolakis on oud, Giorgos Papaioannou on violin, Harris Lambrakis on ney and Manolis Kanakakis on kanun—each of them a virtuoso in their own right, but together quite exceptional. Simply beautiful. A remarkable project that makes your jaw drop. Bravo!

• Pîrî Reis – Comntemporary modal music – compositions and arrangements Michiel van der Meulen – distributed by Xango Music Distribution

© 2017 Moors Magazine

Review of Pîrî Reis in De Subjectivisten

CD, TouMilou Records / Xango Music Distribution

Composer/violinist Michiel van der Meulen was introduced to Greek music and all its stylistic characteristics from an early age. He can be heard on violin with the ensemble Ano Kato. As a composer, he has a particular affinity for modal music, a tradition inherited from the Ottoman Empire. On Crete, he studied with the American ethnomusicologist Ross Daly, mastering the system of melodic modes (maqam) found in traditional Arabic music. This modal music was also widely used throughout the Ottoman Empire. Alongside his musical career, he is a geological researcher. With the Pîrî Reis project, these two worlds now come together.

The name is derived from the famous Ottoman seafarer, navigator and cartographer, whose full name was Hadji Muhiddin Pîrî ibn al-Hac Mehmed, and who is believed to have lived from around 1465 to 1553. As mentioned, he lived in an era in which modal music was also flourishing. Van der Meulen wrote six compositions, with almost all the titles referring to these maqams, apart from the title placed between guillemets and the only Greek-language title.

He travelled to Crete for six days to have the works performed by Harris Lambrakis (ney, a type of flute), Giorgos Papaioannou (violin), Manolis Kanakakis (kanun, a type of zither), Yorgos Mavromanolakis (oud, a type of lute) and Marijia Katsouna (percussion). The instrumentation closely reflects that of Ottoman classical music.

The result of this project can be found on Contemporary Modal Music. The music is entirely instrumental, yet it breathes history and the stories of times gone by. This is why this folk-inspired music, which sounds both traditional and contemporary, is able to captivate without the need for words. You’ll hear a cross-fertilisation of Turkish, Greek, Iraki and other oriental music, majestically and beautifully combined. A modern fairy tale rooted in the traditions of many generations.

Jan Willem Broek

© 2017 De Subjectivisten