Abstract
In Turkey, there are “minstrels” called âsik, who sing poetry to the accompaniment of the instrument called the baglama. Like the majority of people in Turkey, their origin is Central Asia. They started to migrate to Anatolia, part of the present-day Republic of Turkey, in the eleventh century. In pre-modern Turkey âsik played a central role in the dissemination and creation of Turkish folk songs as well as traditionally serving the role of news-teller.
However, in Turkish contemporary society, mass media has assumed the role of news-teller and professional folk-singers and other musicians have taken over the role of the creation of folk songs. As a result, âsik have lost their traditional role. Yet the âsik are still present and recognized as valuable by the people in the Republic. This is partly due to the nature of âsik poems, which express popular themes of mass sentiment. However, while âsik poems are frequently mentioned in the literature, little is said about the music itself.
This research explored the music of the âsik and its significance in contemporary Turkish society, taking as its focus the repertory of Âsik Veysel Satirogul, regarded as the greatest âsik in the Republic. By contrasting his performance with that of other âsik from his region (Central Anatolia), the characteristics of his style were isolated and identified. Reinhard (1977) identifies the following as hallmarks of âsik style of Central Anatolia: the rhythmic texture is syllabic; their melodic lines descend; their melodic contours fall within the interval of a fourth; their music ends on an ‘A’ or ‘D’.
Analysis of Veysel's repertory demonstrated that his music is stylistically indistinguishable from the music of other âsik in Central Anatolia. It can be said that the fact that even the greatest âsik follows local tradition underlines that invariability, the continuity of a tradition from Central Asia, is central to the music of the âsik.
