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Although little is known about Reftar Kalfa, she is a composer who has caught the interest of various researchers into the history of music. According to those investigations, it is believed that she lived during the time of Sultan Mehmet IV, who reigned between 1648-1687. However, according to documents available to us today, the composer Reftar may not even be a woman because she was not referred to with the epithet Kalfa, but only with the name Reftar.

However, Reftar is a women's name in Persian. It denotes a woman who walks in a mincing, coquettish manner. Actually, the important unresolved question is whether Reftar really had the title "Kalfa." Nevertheless, to this day, Reftar Hanım has always been referred to as "Kalfa". If indeed it was truly her title, the term "Kalfa" would refer to her supervisory duties in the administration of imperial harem.

Because of the style of Reftar Kalfa's compositions, musicologists propose that she played the tanbur (long-necked lute). For that reason, in some documents, she is called "Tanburi Reftar Kalfa" (Reftar Kalfa, the tanbur player).

About Reftar Kalfa's works

The Romanian historian and scholar of Ottoman music Dimitri Kantemiroglu (Dimitri Cantemir) mentions a Saba Pesrev by the name of "Saba-i Reftar" in his book "Kitab-i Ilmu'l-musiki ala vechi'l-hurufat" (Treatise on Musicology and Notation) published in 1692. This composition ist the oldest known work of a Muslim female composer in the Ottoman Empire.

In the Encylopedia of Turkish Music, "Turk Musiki Ansiklopedisi," only five of her compositions are mentioned (three peşrevs and two saz semais). However, in the archival collections of the Music Department of Turkish Radio Broadcasting, TRT, there are more compositions under the name of Reftar Kalfa. For example, in the Ismail Hakkı Bey Collection in the archives of Radio Ankara, there are many compositions attributed to Reftar Kalfa: pesrevs in the makams Saba, Rast, Hicaz, Nigar, Sehnazbuselik, Muhayyersunbule, Arazbarzemzeme and Zirgule, together with saz semaiis Saba Pesrev and Eve Buselik.

Some examples of Reftar Kalfa`s compositions

• Arazbar Zemzeme Saz Eseri
• Eviçbuselik Saz Semaisi
• Hicaz Peşrev
• Hicaz Saz Semaisi
• Nev'edâ Peşrev
• Nev'edâ Saz Semaisi
• Nigâr Peşrev
• Nigâr Saz Semaisi
• Rast Peşrev
• Rast Saz Semaisi
• Saba Peşrev
• Sabaperişan Peşrev
• Suzidilâre Peşrev
• Suzidilâra Saz Semaisi

Music CD in Her Memory

Osmanlı Mozaiği, Sony Müzik, 2001
In a seven-disc collection of the album Osmanlı Mozaiği, Reftar Kalfa's composition Saba Pesrevi is the oldest contribution of the disc "Woman Composers".

• Şehvar Beşiroğlu, "Osmanlı-Türk Mûsikîsi'nde kadın'ın müzikal kimliği: Timur – Mughal- Osmanlı görsel malzemelerinin müzikal açıdan değerlendirmesi", Trabzon TV, 17.6.2009 http://www.trabzon.tv/yazarlar.aspx?yzrid=16&yid=99
• Şefika Şehvar Beşiroğlu, "İstanbul'un Kadınları ve Müzikal Kimlikleri", İTÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2006, cilt: 3, sayı: 2.
• Yılmaz Öztuna, Büyük Türk Musikisi Ansiklopedisi, 3. Baskı, Istanbul, 2006.
• A. Emsal Çevik, M. Yaşar Kaltakçı, "Türk Musiki Geleneğinde Kadın ve Bestekarlar", Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, http://www.turkiyat.selcuk.edu.tr/pdfdergi/s29/kaltakci.pdf(5.5.2012).
• Reftar Kalfa" maddesi, eksd.org.tr, http://eksd.org.tr/bestecilerimiz/reftar_kalfa.php
• "Zirgüle Makamı", http://www.octave.at/tm/nazariyat/zirgule/
• "Liste harici makamlar, Nigâr bölümü", ney.com, http://www.neyzen.com/ney_liste_harici.htm
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Quoted Sources

• Şefika Şehvar Beşiroğlu, "İstanbul'un Kadınları ve Müzikal Kimlikleri", İTÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2006, Vol: 3, Nr: 2.
• Reftar Kalfa, eksd.org.tr, http://eksd.org.tr/bestecilerimiz/reftar_kalfa.php
• "Liste harici makamlar, Nigâr bölümü", ney.com, http://www.neyzen.com/ney_liste_harici.htm

Source of Visual Images

• Reftar Kalfa maddesi, eksd.org.tr, http://eksd.org.tr/bestecilerimiz/reftar_kalfa.php