On the card the names of this halay's three sections are written side by side: ağırlama, yanlama, yeldirme. The order of the "Kürt Halayı" that the zurna player Osman Keleş and the drummer Hüseyin Duran, from the village of Kızıleğrek in the Türnük subdistrict of Merzifon, played for the conservatory team on 8 July 1943 can be read from these names: a dance opening with the ağırlama and closing with the yeldirme. The length of the sections and the melody itself, however, have never appeared in any publication.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; not found in the Amasya section of the TRT repertoire
  • Source persons: Osman Keleş (zurna; born Rumi 1330, i.e. 1914-1915; zurna player) and Hüseyin Duran (drum; born Rumi 1331, i.e. 1915-1916; drummer); both from the village of Kızıleğrek, Türnük subdistrict, Merzifon
  • Place and date of collection: Merzifon, 8 July 1943 (place and date in square brackets in the catalogue)
  • Collected by: the Ankara State Conservatory team: Halil Bedii Yönetken, Muzaffer Sarısözen, the technician Rıza Yetişen
  • Genre: dance tune (halay), without words; sections ağırlama, yanlama and yeldirme
  • Mode, rhythm: not recorded
  • Words and music: anonymous
  • Location in the archive: Folklore Archive, disc 1127/A-1
  • Source publication and link: Kaya's catalogue, no. 3679; full text of the thesis. There is no TRT link

Lyrics

No line from this halay passed into the catalogue; what Keleş and Duran had put on disc were tunes for zurna and drum. No printed analysis of it exists either. The original recording opens side A of disc 1127 in the Folklore Archive, while a copy of its card lies among the collection cards that TRT duplicated in the 1970s.

Regional Attribution

The name ties the halay to the Kurdish dance tradition, while the recording was taken in Merzifon from two Merzifon musicians. The tension between these two facts leaves open whether the piece can be counted as belonging to the Amasya region, and the catalogue holds no note that would settle the question. Among what the pair played that day there is one more tune bearing the name of another community, "Çerkes Halayı"; the others, such as "Üç Ayak", "Gelin Ağlatma", "Güreş (Dönmesi – Kapışması)" and the "Yol Havası" divided into a karşılama and a yürütme, carry their function or form in their names. The same name turns up on a tune Mustafa Kılıç and Veli Döngel played at a session of unknown place in Amasya province; on whether these two halays sharing a name are one melody or two different dances, the cards are silent.

Story

No publication describes how the halay was danced in Kızıleğrek or at Merzifon weddings, and no story of its origin or making has been recorded. The catalogue gives the date of this recording in square brackets. Kaya writes that when he met inconsistent places and dates on the cards of the same performer, he corrected them according to the itinerary of the journey; the team spent 7 and 8 July in Merzifon and went on to Gümüşhacıköy on 9 July.

Musical Features

Beyond the names of the three sections there is no musical information. The instruments, however, are plain in the catalogue: Keleş plays the zurna, Duran the drum, and the list of performers gives each man's occupation by these instruments. On side A of the disc the halay is followed by the pair's "Üç Ayak". Side B is given to other Merzifon masters: first Aşir Kirpiksiz's "Dik Delil Makamı", then Musa Aslan's "Yolma Havası". The nine recordings by Keleş and Duran are scattered over many discs, from 1113 to 1127; Kaya puts such scattering down to the practice of completing discs that had room left at the end of a side with short pieces.

Performers and Recordings

The three-part halay is known only from Keleş and Duran's playing of 1943. Bıçak Oyun Havası, which the pair played on the same day, and Dik Delil Makamı, which opens side B of the same disc, are described on separate pages of the site. The melodies of Merzifon and the other districts are gathered together with those of central Amasya in the article The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Online sources