Yeşil hıyar soyulmaz (a green cucumber is not peeled): the song's name is a plain observation taken from the kitchen and the garden. Hıyar is the common Anatolian name for the cucumber. The only known record of this piece attributed to Amasya is the pair of table rows given to it in Haluk Yücel's study of folk songs (2018): one says measured song, the other 4/4.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: none; it is not in TRT's Amasya repertoire
  • Region: Amasya
  • Genre: kırık hava, a measured song (Table 5, p. 380)
  • Metre: 4/4 (Table 6, p. 384)
  • Makam (mode): not in the source
  • Source person, collector, place and date of collection: not in the source
  • Words and music: not stated
  • Source publication: Haluk Yücel, Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 22, 2018
  • Link: no TRT link; article

Lyrics

No words apart from the title line have been published. Since it is not known what second line follows it, or whether the cucumber is part of a simile or of a garden scene, what the song is about cannot be said. Neither score nor words have turned up in other publications either.

Its Story

No account has been collected, or written down, showing whether an event or a person lies behind this plain observation.

Musical Features

The four-beat metre is the most frequent on Yücel's Amasya list. In the table "Yeşil hıyar soyulmaz" shares its column with the song just before it, "Sabah olmuş, karşı bele gün vurmuş", while the one after it, "Yeşil akar Amasya'nın ırmağı", moves to the nine-beat column. The article gives no further information on the mode and structure of the melody.

Performers and Recordings

No singer, recording or collection slip is known. The list Yücel gives of his sources has three items and is not matched to the rows one by one: the TRT repertoire, folk song albums and songs sung among the people. An article that treats the region's songs together: The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Online sources