Therapeutic Melodies: How Classical Turkish Music Soothes Stress and Eases Loneliness

The participants attended an interactive livestreamed music performance. In selecting the mode, tempo, and songs to be performed, recommendations were obtained from the Applied Music Therapies Association, and the pieces with copyrighted recordings presented by the Edirne State Turkish Music Ensemble, under the leadership of the General Directorate of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. As part of the project, examples of traditional Turkish songs were presented to the elderly. The recommended genres and songs consist of vocal and instrumental works belonging to major and minor scales from the Classical Period, which spans from the 14th to the 20th century. In this respect an assembly of eight-musican consisting of five artists playing kanun, tanbur, ney, classical kemençe, and bendir, as well as two vocal soloists performed.