184705176 turkish music 53tetmodalpracticeturkishartmusic53tet
TRANSCRIPT
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Karl L. Signell, PhD
MakamModal Practice in Turkish Art Music
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i
KARL L. SIGNELL
Foreword by Bruno Nettl
USUL EDITIONS 2008
SARASOTA FL
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Musicxxi
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Foreword by Bruno Nettl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
Guide to Pronunciation of Turkish Terms . . . . . . . . . . . xix
I. The Historical Context of Turkish Art Music . . . . . . . . . . 1
Historical Evolution of Turkish Notation . . . . . . . . . . 2
Current Repertoire in Historical Context . . . . . . . . . 4
Antecedents of Contemporary Theory . . . . . . . . . . . 6
II. The Classical Tradition in Contemporary Practice . . . . . 10
NonnClassical Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Performance in the Classical Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Organizational Principles and Formal Structure . . . 16
III. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
IV. Intervalic Structure of Turkish Art Music . . . . . . . . . . 22
Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Pitch Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Tetrachords and Pentachords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Basic Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Theory vs. Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
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Contents xxii
V. Tonal Centers and Their Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Melodic Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Seyir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
VI. Modulation Between Makamns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Modulation within the Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Single Note Borrowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Passing Modulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Modulation in Formal Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Compound Makamns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
True Compound Makamns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Modulation in Larger Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
KrnNatk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
VII. Stereotyped Motives and Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
VIII. Tessitura and Transposed Makamns . . . . . . . . . . 134
Transposed Fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Criteria for Distinguishing Transposed Makam-s . 136
Tessitura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Intervalic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Melodic Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Characteristic Modulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Stereotyped Melodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Appendix A: Stroboconn Measurements
of Selected Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Appendix B: List of Informants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Appendix C: Notated Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
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I: Historical Context 1
CHAPTER I:
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF TURKISH ART MUSIC
In the modern Republic of Turkey, the term Turkish has
come to mean many things. In a quest for a national identity in
the 20th century, some Turks have been led to claim equally
the civilization of the ancient Hittites and the language of the
present Turkic tribes of Central Asia as Turkish. On the other
hand, the much closer heritage of the Ottoman period is often
rejected by these same people, who wish to disassociatethemselves from this latter symbol of backwardness and
corruption.
Turkish art music (Trk sanat musikisi) is clearly the
product of the Ottoman civilization and, as such, suffers from
a conscious opposition by those who reject that culture for
ideological reasons. The force of tradition has been so powerful,
though, that this music continues to find superb interpretersand capacity audiences after half a century of official and
unofficial suppression.
The present study is an attempt to explain some aspects
of a major organizing principle of Turkish art music, the
makam (modal) system. Because of the vitality of the
contemporary tradition, the current state of the art is
emphasized. Nevertheless, a summary of the historical origins
of the music at the outset should give some perspective to the
subsequent discussion.
Traditional Turkish art music today draws its strength
from a rich past. Its vast repertoire includes compositions
numbering in the thousands and spanning a period of at least
five centuries. During that time, several native Turkish not-
ational systems were developed to better preserve that rep-
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music10
CHAPTER II:
THE CLASSICAL TRADITION IN
CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE
Since this study is concerned with the makam (modal)
system in the context of Turkish classical music, this chapter is
devoted to defining that genre in terms of current practice.
First, it will be necessary to differentiate the classical genre
from other types of music played today in Turkey. Next, the
types of performances and instruments used in classical musicwill be briefly examined. And finally, the basic principles and
forms of classical music will be reviewed.
NonnClassical Genres
In Turkey at the present, a wide variety of music can be
heard. Aside from the classical genre, the following types of
nonn
Western music can be distinguished: folk, popular,
seminclassical, mosque, and dervish. To some extent these
categories overlap, yet each has its own style, forms and
instruments. All of these genres are distinct from Turkish
classical music, but each has some relationship to it.
Originally, folk music meant village music. The archetypal
examples are the shepherd on the mountain playing hiskaval
(flute), the farm wife singing a lullaby to her child, and the
gypsy musician performing at a wedding. A quasi-improvisatory
epic form for solo voice is called uzun hava, a dance tune is
called oyun hava, and a folk song is called trk. Each region
of Turkey has its own variants on these forms. Folk music has
a great variety of musical instruments, of which the most
common are: davul and zurna (bass drum and shawm),
balama saz(longnnecked lute), kemene (Black Sea fiddle),and darbuka (Arab vase drum). A neo
nfolk music style has
developed in recent years for urban consumption, charact-
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music22
CHAPTER IV:
INTERVALIC STRUCTURE OF TURKISH ART MUSIC
There are many structural aspects to the Turkish makam
system, but of these, the intervalic structure is the most
fundamental. A recognized succession of intervals forms a scale
and, as Grmeri expresses it, a makam is first and foremost
a scale. The exact size of various intervals is important because
minute inflections of pitch are often one basis for distinction
between one makam and another. The microtonal differencesbetween similar scales are the source of unending debate
between practicing musicians.
Current theory of intervals, scales, and notation is almost
entirely derived from the work of Yekta, Ezgi, and Arel. The first
part of this chapter is a summary of the main points pertaining
to these subjects. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to
an evaluation of that theory in terms of current practice.
Intervals
Yekta, Ezgi, and Arel came to an agreement on the basic
intervals which they said would account for the difference
between any two adjacent tones of any scale. These basic
intervals are five in number and their names are: (1) bakiye;
(2) kk mcennep; (3) byk mcennep; (4) tanini; (5)artk
ikili (Arel 1968:5). The best English terms for these would
seem to be: (1) small half tone; (2) large half tone; (3) small
whole tone; (4) large whole tone; (5) augmented second. To
these we can add the koma(Pythagorean comma), which is not
an interval in itself but is commonly used in Turkish theory and
practice as a discrete increment. Table I below shows these
theoretical intervals, the rounded off value of each in commas,
and the respective values in cents (also roundedn
off).1
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music24
One of the purposes of the EzginArel notation systemwould seem to be that of bringing Turkish conventions moreinto conformity with European ones. The Turkish scale closestto the European major one would be that of the makamARGH. The fivenline Western staff without accidentals wouldtherefore represent the diatonic ARGH scale. Absolute pitchwould not be implied. All intervals represented on the Westernstaff would derive from the diatonic ARGH scale. Example 1
below shows the scale of ARGH and the correspondingintervals in both commas and cents.
The EzginArel notation system uses six accidentals toexpress the necessary inflections to produce the intervals of allscales from this scale:
The scale shown in example 1, transposed up a fourth,will require a 5ncommanflat accidental. Example 2 belowgives this scale (known as ACEMARAN).
*in all scales examples, whole notes are tonics, half notes, dominants
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music30
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music32
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art MusicVI: Modulation66
CHAPTER VI:
MODULATION BETWEEN MAKAMn
S
The realization of the seyir of a makam, as we saw in the
previous chapter, is not a random wandering up and down a
given scale, but a purposeful melodic movement regulated by
rules. A great deal of modulation from one makam to another
takes place in Turkish art music. The rules governing mod-
ulation are the subject of this chapter.
Modulation occurs when, during the course of a
composition or improvisation in a given makam, a note, a
phrase, or an entire passage is introduced from another
makam. Modulation should not be confused with transposition.
the latter term refers to the similarity of scales at different pitch
levels (between two separate pieces of music) in Turkish music.
(See Chapter VIII: Transposed Makamns.)
A pure statement of a given makam would be one
which would contain no passages, no motives, nor even a single
note from another makam. The purpose of the published
seyirns given in the previous chapter was to present the
melodic progression of a single makam in its purest form.
Modulation in some degree or another is characteristic
of every formn
large or small, instrumental or vocal, composed
or improvisednin Turkish art music, with the exception of some
of the very briefest and simplest pieces. In improvisation for
example, a musician who would remain blandly in the same
makam for more than, say, three minutes would be considered
to have played something tadsz (taste-less), or renksiz
(colorless). Yet one would be hard put to find more than a
sentence or two in the literature on this subject, despite its
obvious importance.
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VII: Stereotyped Phrases 125
CHAPTER VII:
STEREOTYPED MOTIVES AND PHRASES
A native Turkish musician can often identify the makamof a piece long before the finalis is sounded, sometimes merelyfrom the briefest of openings alone. This cognitive process wouldseem to depend to a great extent directly on a system ofstereotyped motives and phrases. Presumably, such stereotypedmelodies could not exist independently of the makam
characteristics thus far discussed in this study: scale, melodicdirection, modulation, etc. This brief chapter attempts to answerthis question as well as others concerning stereotyped melodies.Many makamns have distinctive phrases or motives whichimmediately identify them. Some of these melodies are thepersonal property of their creators; others are in the publicdomain.
At an informal concert one evening, I was listening to thebeginning of a taksim (improvisation) on the ney (flute). Themakam had not been announced, but after only three notes itwas apparent that it was SAB. Those three notes are shown asExample 84. The temporal values and the barline are intendedto suggest the melodic shape and emphasis more than literalvalues, since the original was performed in free rhythm. Itshould be noted that less than a tetrachord is revealed, indeed,
the most characteristic note of SAB, Hicaz (d ), is not yetincluded. This fact suggests the possibility that very shortmotives exist which somehow contain the critical essence of amakam. This idea led me to prepare a test to determine whethersuch motives could be recognized by Turkish musicians.
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Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music134
CHAPTER VIII:
TESSITURA AND TRANSPOSED MAKAMn
S
According to the YektanEzginArel theory, every makambelongs to one of three categories: (1) basit (basic); (2)mrekkep(compound); or (3)ed(trans-posed). This chapterexamines the nature of the soncalled transposed makam inboth theory and actual practice.
Transposition refers to an identity or similarity ofintervalic structure between two abstract scales. Numerousexamples of transposition have been mentioned earlier in thisstudy: ARGH transposed up a fourth (ACEMARAN),HCAZ tetrachord on d (passing modulation in BEYAT),KRDnonnG (KRDLnHCAZKAR), etc. Transposition maybe considered in two slightly different aspects; the problemsinvolving transposition of an entire makam are more difficultthan those involving fragments.
Transposed Fragments
In the course of a composition, as we have alreadyseen, many modulations can take place. In an ilhi shownearlier, the principal makam was SAB and the modulation wasto HCAZ. Neither makam was transposed, i.e., both were intheir accustomed places, on Dgh(A). In a arki by DedeEfendi, also given earlier, the principal makam was BEYAT(inits accustomed place). The modulation, in this case, was toHCAZ onnd, a transposed fragment. The characteristicintervals of HCAZ, instead of being found on Dgh, weretransposed up a fourth to Nev(d).
SAB, probably because of its distinctive intervalicstructure, is often used in such passing modulations usingtransposed fragments. It appears in many environments under
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Summary 149
SUMMARY
The five criteria developed in this studynintervalicstructure, sequence of tonal centers, modulation, stereotypedmelodies, and tessiturancan be used to explain the differencebetween any two makamns. Not all five of the criteria willalways be distinctive, but at least one of them should be; asthe Indian musician, Ravi Shankar, is fond of saying (apropos
of the rules of the raga system). There is nothing fixed, yetsome things are fixed. If a composer uses a different makamname for a piece, presumably there are musical reasons whichcan be not only subjectively felt but also objectively explained.These five factors seem to be the most readily observablealthough there are probably other factors not touched on inthis study.
I should hasten to point out that many of the finedistinctions between makamns mentioned in these pages arenot always and everywhere observed. The guiding principle forme has been, What have the most respected composersdone? and What does Niyazi Sayn (Necdet Yaar, KniKaraca, etc.) say? One does not have to look far to find ataksim (improvisation) which conforms poorly to the repertoireof its nominal makam. If one performs regularly, examples of
compositions labeled with the wrong makam, e.g.,MUHAYYERnKRD instead of KRDILnHCAZKR, are notinfrequently encountered. It is interesting to note, however,that the musician who improvises a taksim in the wrongmakam and the composer who mislabels the makam of hispiece both would admit the finer distinctions if pointed out tothem.