THE INCOMPLETE MUSIC

I keep on coming up with this quirky expression at the concerts, conferences or academic summits that I have attended during last year. It goes like this: "different versions of the works"

The expression has been so commonly used particularly on social media that virtually not a day goes by without different versions of a very wellknown works showing up. A classical composition or a strain that goes almost unheard of or is alleged to have been performed for the first time is released. Even the composers of the compositions are allegedly false.

In my humble opinion, one of the major issues in Turkish music is the repertoire, and our repertoire is composed of works in various forms made with different modes.

Even though we got somehow stuck in the song form of the post - Republican period, quite a number of forms - like Kâr, Murabba, Semailer, Peşrev, Saz compositions in different structures, as well as rites, hymns, Sufi Durak, and Naat just to give a few were used for repertoires in classic times and right after that.

How did these different forms of work reach the present day?

"Model" is the first answer to be given to that question.

So, the learner and the master sit facing each other as Eyyübi Mehmet Bey and Zekâi Dede did. The master recites the work in beats and the learner repeats after him. The work is memorized at the end of the day. Actually, models are still valid today as a very useful way of learning about the conduct in music.

Students from musicology department of conservatories, or from history departments at universities get to see the personal archives of some old musicians and refer to different versions as if they are some sort of great invention. But they were already known by the musicians of that period.

Another way for a repertoire to survive until today is being recorded with various musical notations.

Ali Ufki Bey, Kantemiroğlu, Kevseri, Nayi Osman Dede, Abdülbâki Nasır Dede, Hamparsum, and Hrisantos composed many works in the notes they invented. In 1886, Notacı Emin Efendi introduced the musical note as we know it today in his book Nota Muallimi, and released over 400 works and fasıl suites in Suzidilâra, Neveser, Rast modes. In addition, Rauf Yekta Bey, and Mustafa Nezih Albayrak, the latter being one of the grandsons of İsmail Dede, identified certain works by employing types of musical notes that they named as

"Türk Notası", and "Yıldırım Sistemi" respectively. From the late 1800s, a considerable number of musicians noted down their own compositions or works by other composers in their personal notebooks with today's musical notes and lyrics in the Old Turkic language.

It definitely needs saying that the works by the Classification and Evaluation Committees, which was established after removal of the Turkish music education at Darülelhan (the House of Melodies) have been utterly important in transmitting the classic repertoire in particular. The very first members of the committee were Rauf Yekta Bey, İsmail Hakkı Bey, Hâfız Ahmed Efendii followed by Ali Rıfat Çağatağ, Suphi Ezgi,

Mesud Cemil.

(The Classification and Evaluation Committees released 259 works in 180 fascicules, 120 of which were prepared in the old Turkish language and named The Complete Works of Darülelhan while 60 of them were in new Turkic language and named Istanbul Conservatory publication / the Turkish Music Classics in 1923-1930. "Examined and accepted by the Committee of Science composed of Darülelhan" writes on the cover of the fascicules, and each caption was made by the Calligrapher Halim Özyazıcı. After 1931, the Committee also published notes in Tevşih, hymns, Bektashi nefeses, fortyone Mevlevi rituals, three volume complete works of Zekâi Dede, Buselikli fasıl suites (Fascicules 181-263 of the Complete Works of Darülelhan were written by the Classification and Evaluation Committees but were never published. The second part of the complete works, which is made of 74 works, was printed out by Sema Foundation in 1995. So, the Complete Works of Darülelhan is composed of 333 works.). The new Classification and Evaluation Committees, which was established in 1950, published 230 works on 21 fascicules; Refik Fersan, Nuri Duyguer, Halil Can, Ref’i Cevat Ulunay, Sadeddin Heper, and Dürrü Turan were some of the names from the Committee.

If we are to give an example for repertoire, notes of most of the works from the classic period are unfortunately not signed by the original composer. For instance, while we know from the lyrics journals and memoirs that the mode Ferahnâk was composed by Şâkir Ağa, we cannot see the original notes composed by Şâkir Ağa for the composition "Meyl eder bu hüsn ile kim görse ey gülfem seni". But the work made its way to the present day by way of classification committee, special collections, model, Hamparsum or any other means or all of them in combination.

Getting back to the topic title after this brief explanation; Students from musicology department of conservatories, or from history departments at universities get to see the personal archives of some old musicians and refer to different versions as if they are some sort of great invention. But they were already known by the musicians of that period. I witnessed that the radio song artists performed classic and recent-period works differently. When I asked these artists about the source and whereabouts of their different versions, the response was the remarkable musicians, or their masters, who lived in previous periods, or the original composer of the work they performed.

Most of the works that are said to be performed for the first-time must have been performed on the radio, in circles of small talk, at the concerts or even at music halls indeed.

Last but not least, the music is yet to be complete with its sound system, description of mode, method, repertoire- of course- in addition to many other elements. Having a different version of a work is, needless to say, precious only if it is remembered that this approach is not a new invention and the person who notates it is a competent one.