B？TK？N RUHUMA B？RAZ MüZ？K FISILDA: AHMET HAMD？ TANPINAR’IN HUZUR ADLI ROMANINDA MüZ？？？N ？？LEV？

As a novelist, poet and as a literary critic Ahmet Hamdi Tanp？nar (1901-1962) has been an influential figure in Turkish literature. His novels display a number of characteristics such as an interest in Ottoman history and culture, as well as criticism of rapid Westernization. In that respect, Tanp？nar’s prominent novel Huzur(A Mind at Peace), which was first published in 1949 is no exception. Even though Huzur contains a multi-layered structure, this study argues that music emerges as its most central theme. Tanp？nar’s emphasis on it is so explicit that music, especially classical Ottoman music, contributes very actively to the plot. Tanp？nar chooses to privilege the art of music, particularly in its classical Ottoman guise, over other art forms.Huzur is essentially a eulogy to music, Turkish music in particular. What is striking in Huzur is that it presents all its other themes, such as Turkish national identity and ‘the East-West problematic’, through the lenses of music. In other words, music functions like a glue that holds every component of the novel together