Geleneksel Türk Sanat Müziğinde Çalgısal Biçimler ve Türler: “Çalgısal Semâî” Üzerine Bir Tartışma

Abstract

The formal aspects of traditional Turkish art music creations had been evolved throughout the centuries. On the other hand, during the evolution period the performing features and the functions of the creations changed and varied, too. As a result of those changes, the terms like peşrev and saz semâîsi (which means semâî for instruments, instrumental semâî) gained their complexions which are discussed here. In this article, brief information about the instrumental genres is given chronically based on some edvârs which are the written historical sources. Then evolution of the genre instrumental semâî is explained and its relations with a much older genre peşrev are emphasized. At this stage, I mentioned a generally accepted judgment about some specific usûls (rhythm patterns), seeing them as the essential design elements of peşrev genre. I arrive at the conclusion that significative role which is attributed to usûl is the result of a traditional composition style in a broad sense. In this frame, the determinative aspects of instrumental semâî (form, function, context and the relations of these elements) are clarified here. In connection with my discussion on instrumental semâî, the common use of form as a term instead of genre is needed to be addressed. Because the terms form and genre are important keys for music research they are also important for classifying the creations of Turkish art music tradition. As an inference, form can contribute a lot to the description of a genre indeed. But it is not the unique element determining the genre and because of this, using the term form instead of genre just produces obscurity ordinarily. As the main result of this article, all the aspects of genres can evolve or disappear, therefore it must be considered that classifications are not permanent.