Testimonies of Ottoman Turkish music in K. A. Psachos's archive

Konstantinos A. Psachos was born on May 18, 1869 (Safat 6, 1286) in Mega Revma [Arnavutköy], Constantinople [Istanbul] and died on July 9, 1949 in Nea Smyrni, Athens. He was a multi-faceted scientist, of international status and recognition; he was a musician, musicologist, composer, music teacher, researcher and writer, as well as an inventor of an Organ. He played a leading role in the restoration of Byzantine Music, and today is undoubtedly recognized as the academic founder of the sciences of Byzantine Musicology and Music Folklore. He also contributed to the study and dissemination of Ottoman Turkish (Asian, as he called it) music in Greece. However, this aspect of his work remains largely unknown and underappreciated. This paper will present the relevant facts, located in Psachos’s personal archive. The aforementioned archive, which remains in his residence, contains the scientific and artistic activities of K. A. Psachos, collected and organized himself, a record of his published and unpublished life works.