Abstract:

The Huns, who reigned between the fifth century B.C. and the fifth century A.D., had their own unique music. The origins of the Huns’ music are in army and religious musical traditions too, like the other Turk tribes. The Huns’ musical tradition is dated to ancient times, and can be distinguished from the world's other military music through performance, performance location, and ritual aspects. The military music community was called “tug team” in the Hun period. The first Hun military music ensembles consisted of yırağ (surnay, shawm), borguy (pipe), tümrük (drum), küvrük (drum) and çeng (bell) in this age. We are able to obtain information about the Hun period from Chinese and Byzantine sources and archaeological findings, which are an important cultural element to the Tug team. This study will exhibit the historical journey of the Huns’ military music traditions. This military music ensemble’s tasks in the imperial palaces, entertainments, wars and religious rituals will be discussed.

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