The title of one of the songs Kazım Aygül sang in Gümüşhacıköy could not be read on the slip. In the catalogue an ellipsis stands in place of the title, followed by the first line: "Elinde bıçak yarim", "my love, with a knife in your hand". This page, too, names the song by that line. The recording was made on 9 July 1943, and the cataloguer completed its place in square brackets as Gümüşhacıköy. Kazım Aygül, a farm labourer from Halas village, recorded eight pieces that day; one of them later entered the TRT repertoire, but this song did not. Neither its full words nor its notation have been published.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; it is not registered to Amasya in the TRT repertoire
  • Region: Gümüşhacıköy (estimated place of recording in the catalogue)
  • Source performer: Kazım Aygül; birth year on the slip Rumi 1318 (about 1902), farm labourer, from Halas village near Gümüşhacıköy; his instrument presumed in the catalogue to be the saz
  • Collected by: Halil Bedii Yönetken, Muzaffer Sarısözen, technician Rıza Yetişen (Ankara State Conservatory)
  • Date of collection: 9 July 1943
  • Archive location: former Ankara State Conservatory Folklore Archive (now at the Hacettepe University State Conservatory), record 1135/A-2; no. 3711 in Kaya's catalogue
  • Genre: türkü (folk song)
  • Mode, metre: unknown
  • Words and music: recorded as anonymous
  • Source link: there is no TRT link; the data are in Celal Volkan Kaya's catalogue thesis
  • Overview article: The Melody of the Yeşilırmak

Lyrics

Elinde bıçak yarim

The line shows the beloved with a knife in hand. Whether the knife is held for some everyday task, or whether the line is a reproach aimed at the lover, cannot be told without what follows. Neither the rest of the words nor the notation is in print; the song was recorded second on side A of record 1135.

Story

For a song whose very name has been lost, no story has been recorded either. The slip carries no note on the author of the words or on where the song was sung.

Musical Features

The scale, metre and form of the tune are unknown. Judging by its place on the record, "Livana (Oyun – Çevirmelerden)", which Kazım Aygül sang just before it, is a dance piece, and on the same side two songs by Aşir Sirke follow; this order raises the possibility that the song, too, was connected with dancing, but no other information supports it.

Performers and Recordings

The song is known only from Kazım Aygül's voice, on this record. That day Aygül also sang a güzelleme by Kul Hüseyin, an elegy, "Meyrem Oyunu", "Parçalı", "Livana", a Kırklar Zamahı and "Ben de Şu Dünyaya" by Pir Sultan Abdal. Of these, "Meyrem Oyunu" entered the TRT repertoire as Meryem Suya Gidiyor; TRT also names Kazım Aygül as the source performer of the song Yazı Yazdım Sokuya. The Aşir Sirke recording that comes next on that side is described on the Dostun Bahçasına Girsem page.

Bibliography

Online sources