Abstract
Notation had not become widespread in the Ottoman music tradition until the middle of the 19th century, and the works were generally taught and transmitted through meşk. In this system, only the lyrics were recorded. Lyrics collections (güfte mecmuası), which have different types according to their content, were personal and functional notebooks that reminded the performers carried the compositions in their memories of the lyrics of the works. In the yîn-i Şerîf Mecmuası, which was examined in this study, the compiler was not satisfied with writing the lyrics of the Mawlawī rites (âyin) but added pitch (perde) names to evoke the melody at some points. The aforementioned lyrics collection is registered at O 0130 in the Istanbul Atatürk Library Municipal Manuscripts Collection. It was completed by Ḥāfıẓ Meḥmed Rifʿat Saʿdī al-Mawlawī on 30 Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1323 [4 June 1905]. The index in which the works are listed, the beats of the rhythmic cycles (usûl) used in the âyins, various naʿt texts, the lyrics of 35 âyins, the niyaz ilahi, and the Mirajiyya belonging to Nāyī Osman Dede are included in the collection.
yîn-i Şerîf Mecmuası basically has a similar structure to other âyin collections in terms of content, repertoire, order, and form. However, the most critical aspect that stands out from the others is that the melody at the relevant point of the piece is recorded by writing the pitch name together with the lyrics at the beginning of the lines and between them. In this way, some melodic connotation possibilities were added to the order in which the composition is memorized, and the lyrics are followed from the text if needed.
There are a total of 1818 pitch registers in the manuscript. 1265 of them (69.6%) are written at the beginning of the lines of lyrics, on the right margin of the page. The remaining 553 pitch registers (30.4%) were placed inline, corresponding to the upper part of the relevant syllable. These recordings are distributed over 21 different pitches. However, it is not possible to say that the pitch registers show a homogeneous distribution throughout the collection. There are 5 âyins with no pitch written. In others, there are some sections that remain empty.
The only musical element used in the collection is not the registered pitch in the lyrics. A starting pitch was also written sporadically on the main headings and the beginning of the âyin sections (selams). In addition, instrumental parts, and some usûls of selams were included. In the third selams of some âyins, with the expression “tekden girilir”, attention was drawn to the situations in which the lyrics start from the last beat of the usûl.
In this article, the registered pitches in the yîn-i Şerîf Mecmuası are compared with the notes, which was published by the Istanbul Conservatory between 1934-1939. Thus, how many registered pitches there are for each âyin and to what extent they overlap with the note are examined. At the first stage, it is asked if the pitch written in the collection was exactly the same as the note. Accordingly, 1199 (66%) of the total 1818 pitch registers match the note. Afterwords, Meḥmed Rifʿat’s registered pitches are considered in a broader framework. The possibility that the pitch sometimes points to a note group or to a melodic line has been considered. Two possible reasons for this situation have been identified: The diversification of voices, sometimes due to the performance style; spreading of more than one note to the same syllable. Based on this perspective, the overlap between the collection and the notes increased to 1599 (88%).
Therefore, there is more than one version of the works in Ottoman/Turkish music, which was carried by oral transmission and was open to personal interpretation. Another result which should not be overlooked is that yîn-i Şerîf Mecmuası was written at a time when musical notation started to gain popularity. As a result of this, with pitch registers, a new dimension has been added to the practice of the lyrics collection, which has been used for a long time. Indeed, the tradition has not been abandoned in terms of the use of lyrics collections. However, beyond the lyrics, tools have been created to evoke composition.