Köroğlu stands in the open field and calls his men to his side one by one: Demircioğlu, Köse Kenan, Ayvaz, Eşabalı. "Hay Edüben Meydan Harman Başında Duran" was collected in Merzifon from the voice of the minstrel Musa Aslan as part of the Köroğlu narrative. The conservatory's collecting team, which recorded it on 8 July 1943, entered it in its list as "Köroğlundan", "from Köroğlu". The notation from Ateş Köyoğlu's pen went into the repertoire as no. 1902, and the repertoire data give the subject of the work as "valour, heroism". In the same session Musa Aslan sang a second piece from the Köroğlu cycle for the team, the Ayvaz song beginning "Bir at aldım havasınan".

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: TRT THM 1902, kırık hava
  • Region: Amasya, Merzifon
  • Source performer: the minstrel (âşık) Musa Aslan
  • Collected by: the Ankara State Conservatory
  • Collection date: 8 July 1943; title in the conservatory list "Köroğlundan", disc 1130/A-1
  • Transcribed by: Ateş Köyoğlu
  • Mode: Hüseynî scale; final and closing note La
  • Metre: 5/8
  • Words and music: anonymous; tied to the Köroğlu narrative
  • TRT link: TRT repertoire no. 1902. As there is no official TRT page, the catalogue data and lyrics are taken from Repertükül.

Lyrics

(Hey) Hay edüben meydan harman başında duran (canan bir duran)
Ağlar ağası yanımda gerek
Bir eliynen yedi (aman) geyim nal gıran
Böğün Demircioğlu yanımda gerek
(Hey) Padişah bakışlı (aman) eli barutlu (canan barutlu)
Demir aslan huylu gablan sufatlu
Cintiya kılıçlı (aman) golu guvvatlu (canan guvvatlu)
Böğün Köse Kenan yanımda gerek
(Hey) Köroğlu'yum adım adım İruşen Ali
Ayvaz'ı görmesem olurum deli
Hezeran galkanlı (aman) eli cidalı (canan cidalı)
Böğün Eşabalı yanımda gerek

The whole song is in Köroğlu's voice. In the first stanza he says that the one who stands defiant on the threshing floor, that is, he himself, must have his men beside him: Demircioğlu, who breaks seven layers of horseshoe with one hand, must be at my side today. The second stanza praises Köse Kenan: with a sovereign's gaze and powder on his hands, an iron lion's temper and a tiger's face, a sword at his side and strength in his arm. The score's glossary renders "hay edüben" as shouting "hey, hay", "hezaran" as bamboo and "cida" as spear, lance; "böğün" is today, "geyim" a layer or set, "gablan sufatlu" tiger-faced, "guvvatlu" strong. The word "cintiya", however, is not in the glossary and its meaning is not explained in the sources; it apparently describes some quality of the sword.

In the last stanza Köroğlu names himself: I am Köroğlu, my name is Ruşen Ali; if I do not see Ayvaz I will go mad. Eşabalı too, with his bamboo shield and spear, must be at my side today. The words "Ağlar ağası" in the second line of the first stanza appear in this form in the notation and are not explained in the glossary; from their place in the line they could be the title or nickname of one of his men, but the text leaves this open. Because every stanza ends on the line "yanımda gerek", "must be at my side", the song is shaped like a summons or a roll call.

Story

The song attaches to the Köroğlu epic more than to any local event; the title on the collection slip, "Köroğlundan", shows this too. Which branch or scene of the Köroğlu story it is taken from, however, is stated neither on the slip nor in the repertoire data. Haluk Yücel, in his 2016 study surveying 94 songs of Merzifon, notes that Köroğlu, Ruşen Ali and Ayvaz, important names of folk literature, occur in those songs; in the same table Demircioğlu is counted once and Kenan twice. All four of these names appear in this song. There is no information on from whom Musa Aslan learned the piece.

Musical Features

Written in the Hüseynî scale, the melody settles on La and ends there too, using nine notes from Fa sharp up to Sol. The metre is 5/8, and in Nail Demircioğlu's table it is one of the five Amasya songs written in this asymmetrical metre; there the work appears under its shortened title, "Hay Edüben Meydan". Haluk Yücel's 2018 table of genres uses the same short title; there the song falls in the kırık hava group.

The layout of the words in the notation also shows the shape of the melody. The stanzas open with the cry "hey"; "aman" is inserted inside the first and third lines, and at their ends come additions that repeat the last word of the line, such as "canan barutlu", "canan guvvatlu", "canan cidalı". In this way the single-line close of each stanza, "yanımda gerek", emerges from among the additions as a plain, unadorned close.

Performers and Recordings

Musa Aslan's 1943 disc is the one known recording of the song; the catalogue data name no other performer, and the online entry has no audio file. Musa Aslan is the source performer who sang the most pieces for the team in Merzifon, and nine of his 1943 performances entered the TRT repertoire. Their notations did not come from a single hand but were shared among Muzaffer Sarısözen, Ateş Köyoğlu, İsmet Akyol, Altan Demirel and Süleyman Şenel; this song is the only Musa Aslan melody written down by Köyoğlu. No evidence was found that the song was later recorded on disc by other performers.

Collections and Variants

In the conservatory catalogue the first line reads "Hay edüben meydan başında duran"; the word "harman" of the TRT notation is absent here. The place and date are written plainly on the slip as Merzifon, 8 July 1943. The next entry in the catalogue, with its disc number in square brackets, is "Köroğludan (Ayvaz): Bir at aldım havasınan", sung by Musa Aslan; this second piece did not enter the TRT repertoire. Other melodies from Amasya's minstrel tradition can be found in the article The Melody of the Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Academic studies

Other sources

Online sources