Of the eleven works collected from the voice of Hacı Asiye Akbaş, this is the only hymn in the Gerdâniye makam. In the list Fatih Koca published in 2015 it appears eighth, as "Gerdâniye İlâhî, Kimselerin Aklı Ermez". Koca writes that they published the notation of the collected hymns; yet the score of this hymn is not to be found in the article's appendix. What is known of the work today is its title and its makam.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; not in the TRT repertoire
  • Type: ilahi (hymn)
  • Region: Amasya (town centre)
  • Source performer: Hacı Asiye Akbaş, joined by her elder sister Ayşe Candaş
  • Collected by: Fatih Koca (on the other scores he is named as collector together with Osman Akbaş)
  • Transcribed by: according to Koca the collected hymns were revised and transcribed by the ney player Eren Köksal; the score of this work has not been published
  • Date of collection: not stated in the article; Koca's interview with Akbaş took place at the Ramadan Bayram of 2013
  • Mode (makam): Gerdâniye
  • Metre: unknown
  • Words and music: recorded as anonymous
  • Source publication: Koca 2015, p. 937 (list of works)
  • Link: no TRT link; online text of the article

Lyrics

Neither the words nor the notation of the hymn have reached a published source. The article's appendix (pp. 939-951) contains the scores of nine different works; of these, "Kerbelâ" and "Sabahın Seher Arası" are printed twice, while "Kimselerin Aklı Ermez" and "Senin de Bir Adın Tâhâ" from the list never made it into the appendix at all. The meaning of the title is clear even today: something no one's mind can reach, something beyond anyone's grasp. The lines that say what lies beyond the mind's grasp, however, are unknown.

Story

There is no account specific to this hymn. Koca relates that Akbaş carried the hymns in her memory for years, that as she grew older she forgot some of them, and that she wrote part of what remained into an "İlâhi Defteri", a hymn notebook she kept herself. Whether this hymn went into that notebook is not touched on in the article.

Musical Features

In classical Turkish music Gerdâniye is the name both of a pitch and of a makam. The other works collected from Akbaş are in the Hüseynî, Uşşak, Rast and Hicaz makams; in the list Gerdâniye is written only against this hymn. As the score has not been published, nothing can be said about its metre, tempo, range or form.

Performers and Recordings

The hymn was sung for the collection by Asiye Akbaş, with her elder sister Ayşe Candaş joining in. What became of the sound recording the article does not say. Koca's bibliography also lists Eren Köksal's unpublished MA thesis of 2015, Amasya'da Dinî Mûsikî Geleneği; since the thesis could not be consulted, it cannot be said whether this hymn appears there. Amasya's hymn tradition is described, together with the region's other melodies, in The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Online sources