Viran is an adjective of Persian origin meaning ruined, desolate, deserted; the name Viran Dağlar therefore speaks of mountains left desolate. This Amasya long song, sung without a fixed metre, is recorded only in Haluk Yücel's study published in 2018, where it is marked as a long song in the genre table and as free rhythm in the metre table.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; it has no entry attached to Amasya in the TRT repertoire
  • Region: Amasya
  • Genre: uzun hava, a long song in free rhythm
  • Metre: free
  • Makam (mode): not in the source
  • Source person, collector, place and date of collection: not in the source
  • Words and music: author unknown
  • Source publication: Haluk Yücel, 2018, p. 380 (Table 5) and p. 384 (Table 6)
  • Link: no TRT link; Yücel's article

Lyrics

Of the words of Viran Dağlar only the name has come down in the record. Whether the name was part of a line or a title given later is not clear either. The words of the long song and any written form of its melody could not be found in published sources.

Its Story

No tradition telling which mountains were left desolate, and why, has been recorded, nor any event that gave rise to the song.

Musical Features

By Yücel's count, of the 89 Amasya folk songs he examined 80 are measured songs, 7 are long songs, and 2 combine the features of both. Viran Dağlar is one of those seven long songs. In the metre table the same pieces can be seen falling into the free-rhythm column; Yücel gives the total of songs in free rhythm as 11. The article contains no information on the mode, range or melodic course of the piece.

Performers and Recordings

There is no known singer, disc or radio recording, and Yücel does not say where he took the long song from. The Melody of Yeşilırmak discusses Amasya's long songs together with its folk songs.

Bibliography

Online sources