This piece, bearing the names of two lovers, was recorded from Âşık Musa Aslan during the conservatory team's last session in Merzifon, on the night between 9 and 10 July 1943. The catalogue lists it only by the title "Eşref ile Zöhre" (Eşref and Zöhre) and the first line "Beñ(?) bu yerde yatarkene"; that it was taken from a folk romance can be inferred from the two names in the title. It did not pass into the TRT repertoire, and its text and notation remain unprinted to this day.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; not registered under the Amasya region in the TRT repertoire
  • Place of collection: Merzifon
  • Source person: Âşık Musa Aslan
  • Collected by: the Ankara State Conservatory team: Halil Bedii Yönetken, Muzaffer Sarısözen and the technician Rıza Yetişen
  • Date of collection: 9/10 July 1943 (the night linking the two days)
  • Published source: Celal Volkan Kaya, Ankara Devlet Konservatuvarı'nın Halk Müziği Alan Araştırmaları Kataloğu (İTÜ, 2014), recording list no. 3728
  • Location in the archive: Folklore Archive, disc 1138/B-1
  • Genre: folk song (türkü); according to the title, a piece from a love story
  • Mode, rhythm: not recorded
  • Words and music: anonymous
  • Source link: there is no TRT page; the details are in Kaya's catalogue

Lyrics

Beñ(?) bu yerde yatarkene

The line can be read as "Ben bu yerde yatarken", "As I lay in this place". The question mark beside the first word shows that the cataloguer was not sure of this reading; Kaya placed such a mark beside every piece of information whose reading or accuracy he doubted. The speaker begins to tell of something that happened while lying somewhere, but whether this voice belongs to Eşref or to Zöhre cannot be drawn from a single line.

Kaya's only documents were the cards: the archive's present owner, the State Conservatory of Hacettepe University, had turned down the request to use its discs and tapes while the catalogue was being prepared. The copy of the card is at TRT, the recording itself on disc 1138 of the Folklore Archive; the rest of the text has passed into no printed source.

Story

The two names in the title call a folk romance to mind, but no text of a story called "Eşref ile Zöhre" as told in Amasya, nor any publication relating its plot, came to light in the course of this work. For this reason the event on which the song was sung is unknown. The name Zöhre also occurs in other recordings of the conservatory: pieces beginning "Zöhrem: Kuyu dibi dikmeli" in Çumra in 1940 and "Zöhre Türküsü: Yük dibinde duvağım" in Feke in 1941. Neither first line matches the Merzifon recording, and neither mentions Eşref.

Musical Features

The layout of disc 1138 offers a small clue about the recording. Side A was filled from start to finish by "Kaval Havası: Şu garşıki yayla ne gözel yayla", while on side B "Eşref ile Zöhre" was recorded first, followed by "Felek Şad Olacak Günün Görmedim". On a disc where one side was given to a single piece, the story song making do with half a side may indicate that it was a shorter recording; its exact length cannot be learned from the card. The mode, metre and structure of the melody are unknown as well.

Performers and Recordings

On 9 July the team had worked in Gümüşhacıköy, then returned to Merzifon and continued into the night. Kaya states that for cards where two dates are written with a slash, the strongest possibility is the night linking one day to the next. Musa Aslan sang five pieces at that session; in disc order, "Dembedem", "Baḫçaya Getirdi", a kaval tune, this story song and the song beginning "Felek Şad Olacak". Three of them entered the TRT repertoire and are discussed on the pages Dem Be Dem Karşıma Gelen Bülbül, Bahçeye Getirdi Bir Canan Bizi and Felek Şad Olacak Günün Görmedim. For the minstrel's life, which led from Ardahan to Merzifon, see Âşık Musa Aslan; for the place of Merzifon's melodies within the province, The Melody of Yeşilırmak. No one is known to have sung "Eşref ile Zöhre" after Musa Aslan.

Bibliography

Online sources