Zülfü Livaneli: “Art reaches the masses flowing like an underground river”

Zülfü Livaneli is an eminent figure in Turkey, a songwriter and performer, an author and film director. His songs have reached iconic status, while his pacifism and social values have led him to assume political roles. His family, whose name originates in Georgia, have a complex and tragic story. “All the peoples living in the Ottoman state in Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus suffered greatly in the 20th century. Turks, Armenians, Kurds, Greeks and other ethnicities were massacred and persecuted,” he explains.

“My grandparents could not escape this fate. That is why peace is indispensable for us. My life has been spent defending brotherhood, respect for human rights and the rule of law. I suffered trials, military prison, exile, bans on my work, threats on my life. But art reaches the masses flowing like an underground river. My first album, released in 1973, was dedicated to the martyrs of democracy murdered by the military junta. The government immediately banned the album, and the ban still stands. But these songs reached millions through illegal cassettes and became the sound of resistance.”

His collaborations with Maria Farantouri and Mikis Theodorakis spanned the national borders of two countries engaged in embittered battles. “Mikis was one of my most important friends. We met in Athens in 1983, and released an album together in 1986. Mikis came to Istanbul for the first time that year, and we established the Turkey-Greece Friendship Association. Our peace efforts and joint concerts continued for years. The loss of Mikis [September 2021] left a huge void.”

“During my youth in Ankara, I wanted to be a writer, studying world and Turkish literature. I also played the saz, which my father gave me. This instrument introduced me to the thousand-year-old tradition of poetry and troubadours in Anatolia, motivating me to write poetry and music. I thought the album I made in 1973, in memory of my murdered friends, would be the first and last. My brother came to visit me in Stockholm where I received my first Western music education and said that thousands of students were marching to my songs being played in every theatre. I was shocked and found myself in an unplanned music career. More than 20 albums, 35 soundtracks and hundreds of songs followed.”

After UNESCO made him a Goodwill Ambassador in 1996, he recorded a number of his songs with the London Symphony Orchestra. Talking about the music scene at home he says, “in Turkey there’s a huge human diversity and an enormous variety of musical genres and styles. The Ottoman court had an elite music inspired by Persian and Byzantine traditions. There were also Armenian, [Greek] Orthodox and Jewish composers. Every ethnic group in Anatolia was making music in their own language and style. In the early 1980s, I used human voices and folk and electronic instruments in the music for the film Yol [The Way] that won the Palme d’Or in Cannes: it was the global music of the time. My songs are sung by Joan Baez, by many Greek, American, Catalan, Japanese, Arab and Iranian singers. This makes them truly global.”   

Zülfü Livaneli performs at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on November 24, royalalberthall.com