Old Habits, New Dimensions: A Pitch-Registered Ayin Collection

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 mesk. In this system, only the lyrics were recorded. Lyrics collections (gufte mecmuasi), 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 Ayin-i ,Serif Mecmuasi, which was examined in this study, the compiler was not satisfied with writing the lyrics of the Mawlawi rites (ayin) but added pitch (perde) names to evoke the melody at some points. The aforementioned lyrics collection is registered at O 0130 in the Istanbul Ataturk Library Municipal Manuscripts Collection. It was completed by Hafiz Mehmed RifMODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGat SaMODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGdi al-Mawlawi on 30 Rabi` al-Awwal 1323 [4 June 1905]. The index in which the works are listed, the beats of the rhythmic cycles (usul) used in the ayins, various na`t texts, the lyrics of 35 ayins, the niyaz ilahi, and the Mirajiyya belonging to Nayi Osman Dede are included in the collection.Ayin-i ,Serif Mecmuasi basically has a similar structure to other ayin 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 ayins 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 ayin sections (selams). In addition, instrumental parts, and some usuls of selams were included. In the third selams of some ayins, with the expression tekden girilir , attention was drawn to the situations in which the lyrics start from the last beat of the usul.In this article, the registered pitches in the Ayin-i ,Serif Mecmuasi are compared with the notes, which was published by the Istanbul Conservatory between 1934-1939. Thus, how many registered pitches there are for each ayin 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, Mehmed RifMODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGat'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 Ayin-i ,Serif Mecmuasi 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.