Beyati Saz Semai - Tanburi İsak Efendi - 18th Century Turkish Music

Beyati Saz Semai is a form of Ottoman classical music. It is usually the last movement of a musical suite, and is metered with the rhythmic structure called "aksak semai". Tanburi İsak Efendi and Kanuni Ömer Efendi are musicians who have performed or composed the form. Tanburi İsak Efendi, also known as İzak Fresco Romano, was a famous classical Turkish music composer and tambur player. He was born in 1745 in Ortaköy, Istanbul and lived during the reign of Sultan III Selim. He is considered one of the greatest classical Turkish music composers of Jewish origin. He was known for playing the tambur, a bowed or plucked long-necked lute used in Ottoman court music, as well as the keman, a traditional Turkish violin. Some of his works have survived to this day, including 37 peşrev (Ottoman classical compositions), 28 saz semâisi (a type of classical Turkish music), 5 compositions, 1 ağır semâi (a slow and serious classical Turkish music genre), and 3 yürük semâisi.