Ottoman classical music (Klâsik Türk Mûsikîsi, Sanat Mûsikîsi) developed in Istanbul and major Ottoman towns from Skopje to Cairo, from Tabriz to Morocco through the palace, mosques, and sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with a small instrumental ensemble. In recent times instruments might include tanbur (lute), ney (flute), kemençe (fiddle), keman (Western violin), kanun (zither), or other instruments. Sometimes described as monophonic music, the variety of ornamentation and variation in the ensemble requires the more accurate term heterophonic.

Ottoman music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, and other rules of composition. There are more than 600 makams that have been used so far. Out of these, at least 119 makams are formally defined, but today only around 20 makams are widely used. In the sufi teaching, each makam represents and conveys a particular psychological and spiritual state. Sometimes, in certain makams, Ottomans would use different instrumental and vocal musical pieces in order to cure certain medical and psychological conditions.

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period. It should not be confused with the Classical Era.

European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music and popular music.

The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.

Dimitrie Cantemir (Romanian: [diˈmitri.e kanteˈmir]; 1673 – 1723) was twice Prince of Moldavia (in March–April 1693 and in 1710–1711). He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer.

His name is spelled Dimitrie Cantemir in Romanian, Dmitriy Konstantinovich Kantemir (Дми́трий Константи́нович Кантеми́р) in Russian, Dimitri Kantemiroğlu in Turkish, Dymitr Kantemir in Polish, Dimitrios Kantemiris (Δημήτριος Καντεμίρης) in Greek and Demetre Cantemir in several other languages.

Born in Silişteni (renamed Dimitrie Cantemir and now located in Vaslui County, Romania), Dimitrie was the son of Moldavian Voivode Constantin Cantemir (and brother to Antioh Cantemir, himself Prince), of the low-ranking boyar Cantemireşti family. His mother, Ana Bantăş, was a learned woman of noble origins. (Cantemir never forgot his paternal ancestry, but while in Constantinople because of his name similarity locals inspired him to claim descent from Khan Temir, an early 17th century khan of the Budjak Tatars – see Moldavian Magnate Wars on some occasions.)

Zeki Müren (Turkish pronunciation: [zeˈci myˈɾen]) (born in Bursa, Turkey on 6 December 1931, died in İzmir on 24 September 1996) was a prominent Turkish singer, composer and actor. He was famous for his compelling voice and precise articulation in his singing of both established Turkish classical music and contemporary songs.

Müren grew up in the provincial capital city of Bursa in western Turkey. From 1950 to 1953 he studied decorative arts in Istanbul at the Fine Arts Academy while launching his musical career. Müren’s first album was issued in 1951, at which time he was a regular singer on Istanbul Radio. In 1955, he produced his first Gold Record.

In his forty-five-year professional career Müren composed more than three hundred songs and made more than six hundred recordings. He was celebrated as the "Sun" of classical Turkish music and was affectionately called "Pasha". For many years he reigned as "Artist of the Year"^{[clarification needed]}. Many of Müren's records were also published in Greece, where he also enjoyed popularity, along with the U.S., Germany, Iran, and several other countries during the 1960s and 1970s.