A household object, the samovar, appears in the name of this song: "Samâveri hâlleyleyin." In Haluk Yücel's 2018 study of Amasya folk songs the name, spelled with circumflexes, is found in two tables. In the genre table it is marked as a measured song, in the metre table as 5/8. Among the metres Yücel names in his conclusion as the most frequent, 4/4, 2/4 and 9/8, 5/8 does not figure.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; it is not registered under the Amasya region in the TRT repertoire
  • Region: Amasya
  • Genre: kırık hava, a measured song (Table 5, p. 379)
  • Metre: 5/8 (Table 6, p. 382)
  • Makam (mode): not given
  • Source person and collector: unknown
  • Place and date of collection: unknown
  • Words and music: no name is given in the source
  • Source publication: Haluk Yücel, Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 22, 2018
  • Link: no TRT record; the full text of the article

Lyrics

The only words known from the song are these two, which form its name. "Samâver" is the spoken form of semaver, samovar; what the verb "hâlleyleyin" means here the source does not explain, and since the rest of the words is unknown it cannot be worked out from the context either. No source published under Amasya gives the words or the score of the song.

Its Story

No record tells at what gathering the samovar was set up, or where the song was sung and for what occasion.

Musical Features

The limping five-beat metre is the only musical detail known about the piece. In Yücel's metre table the song stands between "Ninni" and "Yüce dağ başında koyun güderken"; both are in other columns (the one 2/4, the other 9/8). The article gives no information on mode, range or form for this piece.

Performers and Recordings

No known performer or disc recording exists. Yücel says he made his selection "through a review of the literature and the views of Turkish folk music specialists"; which publication in that review this song came from is not stated. A general article on the folk songs and long songs of Amasya: The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Online sources