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Overview
Begun in 1936 and completed in 1943, the work was Bartók's last major essay. The editor, Dr. Benjamin Suchoff, has provided an historical introduction and a chronology of the various manuscript versions. An afterword by Kurt Reinhard describes recent research in Turkish ethnomusicology and gives a contemporary assessment of Bartók's field work in Turkey. Appendices prepared by the editor include an index of themes compiled by computer.
Originally published in 1976.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691644233 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 04/19/2016 |
| Series: | Princeton Legacy Library , #1853 |
| Pages: | 298 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Turkish Folk Music from Asia Minor
By Béla Bartók, Benjamin Suchoff
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1976 Princeton University Press, Princeton and LondonAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-09120-4
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Part One
STRUCTURE OF THE MELODIES
Despite the small number of the melodies — seventy-eight vocal and nine instrumental pieces — it seemed advisable to group them according to a certain system. A detailed description of the system cannot be given for lack of space. The principles used in grouping will, however, distinctly appear to anyone perusing, with sufficient attention, the material as published here. Nevertheless, some of the procedures used must be explained.
In order to facilitate the comparison of these or other folk melodies, each of them is transposed into a pitch which presents g1 as the final tone. The original pitch is indicated by a black note without stem at the beginning of each melody; this note always refers to g1. Certain symbols are used:
(a) I to VII for the scale degrees g-f1, 1 to 12 for g1-d2;
(b) Arabic figures followed by a comma for the syllabic number of the melody sections;
(c) Scale-degree symbols described in a), separated by a dash, for range (ambitus) of the melodies: the first figure indicating the lowest degree, the second the highest.
The grouping of the melodies resulted in the establishment of the following main Classes:
Class Description of the Melodies
Melody No. No. of Melodies
1. Parlando6 isometric7 four-section, with 1-9 15 8-syllable sections
2. Parlando isometric four-section, with 11-syllable sections 10-23 18
3. Parlando isometric three-section, with 11-syllable sections 24
1
4· Parlando isometric two-section, with 8-syllable sections 25-26 2
5· Parlando isometric two-section, with 11-syllable sections 27-29 3
6. Parlando isometric two-section, with 14-syllable sections 30
1
7. Parlando isometric four-section, with 7-syllable sections 31
1
8. Parlando isometric four-section, with 9-syllable sections 32
1
9· Parlando isometric three-section, with 8- (= 3 + 2+3) syllable sections 33
1
10. Parlando isometric three-section, with 10- (= 5+5) syllable sections 34
1
11. Parlando heterometric four-section 35
1
12. Parlando heterometric three-section 36-39 4
13. Tempo giusto isometric four-section, with
"dotted" rhythm and 7- or 7+ 7-syllable sections 40-44 7
14. Tempo giustoheterometric four-section, with "dotted" rhythm 45
1
15· Tempo giusto isometric four-section 46
1
16. Tempo giusto isometric three-section 47
1
17- Tempo giusto heterometric four-section 48
2
18. Rain-begging songs (with motif structure) 49
4
19. Melodies with indeterminable structure or of suspicious origin 50-59 13
20. Instrumental pieces 10b.
43C-,
60-66 9
Total: 87
If the isometric classes contain more than one melody, their melodies are further grouped into subclasses and groups according to the pitch of the final tone of their melody sections, considering first the tone of the second section (main caesura, marked by[]), then the tone of the preceding (first) section marked by ]), and finally that of the following (third) section (marked by [). Classes 1 and 2, containing thirty-three melodies (forty-three percent), obviously form the most important part of the material.
The characteristics of Class 1 (about twenty percent of the collected vocal material) are as follows:
(1) Eight-syllable melody sections in parlando rhythm which may be considered as a derivation from supposedly original equal eighth values: [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] the transformation of the values results in the most varied — though not always stable — rhythmical formations, showing as a general feature the rather considerable prolongation of section final tones or, at least, that of the second and fourth section.
(2) More or less richly ornamented, with melismatic groups of various kinds.
(3) A scale with minor third, for the most part in Dorian mode (in four cases the Aeolian mode: melody Nos. ib., 2, 3, 4), in which the second (sometimes the sixth) degree is frequently unstable ([down arrow]).
(4) The main caesura (final tone of the second section) is [b3] in four cases, [4] in three cases, [5] in seven cases, and [8] in a single case. The secondary caesuras (final tone of the first and third sections) are 5] in eight, 4] in two, and b6], 7], b10] in single cases; [b3. eight, [5 in three, [4 in two, and [7 [8 in single cases. The position of section final tones on the b3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 degrees (excepting only b6] in melody No. 2), that is, exclusively on the degrees of the pentatonic scale [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] offers adequate evidence of the latent pentatonic structure existing in these melodies.
(5) The fact that 5] is the most frequent final tone in the first melody-sections, and [b3 in the third sections, already shows the prevalence of a so-called "descending" structure of the melodic line, which means that the first half of the melody is placed approximately in the upper half of the octave, the second half (or last quarter) of the melody in the lower half.
If we compare these characteristics with those of the Old Hungarian melodies with eight-syllable sections, we will see that they are practically identical. The only differences are as follows:
a) the Turkish melodies in question never touch the VII degree which, however, occurs rather frequently in the Hungarian melodies;
b) the Hungarian melodies show more clearly the pentatonic structure, not only in the final tones of the melody sections, as the Turkish melodies do, but even in their melodic line;
c) the so-called "transposing" structure (a variety of the "descending" structure), comparatively frequent in the Hungarian material, in which the second half of the melody is a repetition of the first half a fifth lower, does not appear in the Turkish melodies.
Incidentally, as a circumstance of minor importance, it can be stated that the relationship between the Turkish and Hungarian materials is particularly conspicuous in the melodies found in central Hungary (the area situated between the south bend of the Danube River and the western border of Transylvania), designated in Hung. Folk Music as dialect region III.
In addition to this striking similarity in the characteristic features of the Turkish and Hungarian parlando melodies with eight-syllable sections, is the occurrence of decided Hungarian variants in most of the nine Turkish melodies or variant groups of Class 1. The complete Hungarian material of about 13,000 melodies, kept in Budapest, is unfortunately not available to me at the present time. I can therefore quote only four Hungarian variants in the Appendix (pp. 178-179), and refer to a fifth, published in Hung. Folk Music as mus. ex. No. 62, as a variant of melody No. 15 of this volume. Even these few examples provide enough evidence to indicate the closest relationship or, as I would put it, the identity of both materials. This identity is an irrefutable proof of the age of these melodies: it shows the way back to the sixth or seventh century. During that period the ancestors of the Anatolian Turks lived somewhere on the borders of Europe and central Asia, in the neighborhood of other Turkish tribes; the ancestors of the Hungarians occupied an area between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
We have long had evidence of Old Turkish linguistic influences, exerted by some Turkish people on the Finno-Ugrian Hungarian language. We have known for several decades that the ancient Székely-Hungarian alphabet, a kind of runic or scored alphabet (rovásírás), first discovered in a document in the church of the Székely-Hungarian village Énlaka (Transylvania), is in close relation to a similar alphabet found in inner Asia, at the dwelling place of certain ancient Turkish tribes (inscriptions from A.D. 500-700). And now, in step, musicology brings proof of the identity of the Old Hungarian and the Old Turkish music, proof corroborated by the specimens of the mentioned Cheremiss and Kazan-Turkish folk music, which show a related music structure and even near-variants of Hungarian melodies. Considering the historical fact that these peoples lived near each other twelve to fifteen centuries ago, later moved apart to rather distant territories, and could not have had any contact with each other since their separation, it is evident that this musical style must be at least fifteen hundred years old. The fact that such a statement is at all possible makes this subject of international importance, for there is no other instance known in the world, to my knowledge, which offers the possibility of this kind of irrefutable determination of the age of folk music traced back for so many centuries. As a case in point, the northern and southern Slavs also divided during the sixth or seventh century. However, no vestiges of an ancient common Slav folk music can be discovered in their actual folk melodies.
There is one argument that could possibly arise counter to the assertion that the relationship of the Old Hungarian and Old Turkish folk music can be traced as far back as the sixth or seventh century. It is common knowledge that central and southern Hungary were invaded by the Turks and occupied from the middle of the sixteenth century for more than 150 years; thus, it could be hypothesized that these one and a half centuries of occupation might have provided an occasion for the imbuement of Hungarian folk music with Turkish elements. This possibility, however, is out of the question: the Turkish occupation had an exclusively military character; indeed, Turkish settlements or villages were never founded, and there was no social interaction between the. Turkish army of occupation and the Hungarian nationals. In fact, a great many Hungarians fled from the invaded territories, leaving vast areas entirely uninhabited. The only visible purpose of the occupation was to gather taxes and firmly hold the military power in Turkish hands. In addition, mercenary troops composed of all kinds of people could not develop a homogeneous musical style — the only way by which any essential influence could be exerted.
The melodies of Class 1 are from the above-mentioned Yürük and adjoining areas.
Class 2 — twenty-three percent of the collected vocal material — although in near relationship to Class 1, nevertheless shows some important deviations which are as follows:
(1) Eleven-syllable melody sections in parlando rhythm, supposedly derived from the schema [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].
(2) A more extended range: 1-b10 in nine cases, 1-11 in three, 1-12 in one, 1-(b) 9 in two, 1-8 in three; that is, generally a range of one and a third octaves.
(3) In accordance with the wider range the final tone of the first melody section is placed on a high degree: 8] in six cases, 7] in five, 9] and b10] one each, 5] in two, and b3] and 4] as single cases. The main caesura as well as the final tone of the third section, however, are generally placed on lower degrees: [4] in nine cases, [b3] in five, [5] in two, [b6] and [7] as single cases; [b3] in eleven, [4 in three, and [1, [5 [6 as single cases. Nevertheless, the position of the third section in all the melodies, excepting Nos. 15 and 16, is in approximately the upper half of the range (apart from the final tone), frequently even touching the highest tones of the scale. Melody Nos. 10, 11, 14, 20, 22, and 23 even have a range of a whole octave in their last section. In other words, there is a tendency to maintain the higher degrees as long as possible throughout the melodies.
(4) The melismatic groups, excepting melody Nos. 10a., 12,15, 16,22, and 23, present much more elaborate ornaments than those of Class 1. This circumstance perhaps may be the sign of Arabic influence, particularly as regards complicated melismatic arrangements melody No. 21b.: last three measures of each stanza), cascadelike groups (melody No. 20: fifth measure of each stanza), and peculiar clucking sounds (melody Nos. 20, 21a.).
Traits common to Class 2 and 1 are the parlando rhythm, the scale, the position of section final tones almost exclusively on the pentatonic degrees, and the "descending" structure which, however, approaches its resolution later in Class 2 than in Class 1. These common characteristics link the two classes decidedly, so to say, into a twin class.
The melodies of Class 2 are from the Yürük and neighboring areas, excepting melody Nos. 15 and 16 (see below).
The features described under (1)-(4) do not occur in the Old Hungarian melodies with eleven-syllable sections; moreover, the metrical articulation of the latter is exclusively [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] or some other variation of this schema. Therefore, despite the related structure, no Hungarian variants of Class 2 melodies exist. Incidentally, it can be stated that some of the eighteen melodies of this class have texts of seemingly urban origin, and that the complicated aspect of the melodies somehow gives them a more artificial character in comparison with the simpler melodies of Class 1.
Melody Nos. 15 and 16 do not stem from the Yürük area but from the rather distant Çorum vilayet (that is, county), and they are the only Class 2 melodies which lack the distinguishing characteristics listed under (2), (3), and (4). Indeed, except for the syllabic number of the lines, their structure and character are absolutely identical with those of Class 1. As a matter of fact, they are variants of Old Hungarian melodies, regardless of the above-mentioned slight difference in the metrical articulation.
Classes 13 and 14 are next in importance — about ten percent of the collected vocal material. These are, particularly with regard to their "dotted" rhythm, related to the corresponding Hungarian classes of "dotted" rhythm melodies. Melody No. 42 even has Hungarian variants, and Nos. 40, 41, and 42 are very nearly related to Hungarian melodies not only in rhythm but also in melodic structure.
The "dotted" rhythms [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (in faster tempo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in flattened rhythm [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) in Hungarian tempo giusto melodies with such characteristics result from the positional or natural quantity of the syllables. In the Turkish material only positional quantity occurs, since the Turkish language uses only short vowels.
A very interesting peculiarity can be observed in these rhythms which occurs also in Hungarian and Rumanian melodies, and probably also in those of other peoples, which I call "rhythmic compensation." It consists of the following procedure: if for any reason a certain value is very slightly shortened or lengthened, some of the following values will be lengthened or shortened by exactly the same value in order to obtain equal measures of, let us say, 2/4 or 4/4. For example, in the second and fourth measures of melody No. 40 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] stands for [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], in the third measure [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and so forth. No. 40 is a very good example of the consistent and frequent use of this device. In other pieces (melody Nos. 42, 45) it occurs only occasionally.
"Dotted" rhythm is extremely characteristic of certain classes of Hungarian folk melodies; it appears in some classes of Rumanian and Slovakian material, too, probably as a Hungarian influence. Our very scanty Turkish material shows not more than eight such melodies, and we do not know precisely whether "dotted" rhythm occurs elsewhere.20 Therefore, this common feature in the Hungarian and Turkish material, however striking the similarity may be, cannot be taken as a convincing proof of the common origin of these rhythms.
The melodies representing the remaining classes are so few in number that no description of their type can be given and no conclusions drawn. Some of these melodies seem to be incomplete or in some way altered forms of Class 2 pieces (melody Nos. 27, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39). In addition, others differ from Class 2 because of their major scale (Nos. 24, 28). Certain melodies are perhaps of urban, even European origin (Nos. 31, 32, 34, 47, 48, 52, 53, $7). And not even a guess can be made with regard to the origin of melodies such as Nos. 25, 26, 29, 33, 46, 50, 51, 54, 55, and 56. Melody No. 58, a hit song, can be traced back to the Canzonetta "Halte-là! qui va là?" from Bizet's opera Carmen. The composer of the hit was obviously not too concerned with originality of ideas. Habent sua fata — melodiae!
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Turkish Folk Music from Asia Minor by Béla Bartók, Benjamin Suchoff. Copyright © 1976 Princeton University Press, Princeton and London. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents
- Frontmatter, pg. i
- Contents, pg. v
- List of Plates, pg. vii
- Editor's Preface, pg. 1
- Preface, pg. 29
- Introduction to Part One, pg. 33
- Music Examples, pg. 63
- Notes to the Melodies, pg. 181
- Introduction to Part Two, pg. 195
- Texts and Translations, pg. 215
- Notes to the Texts, pg. 251
- Bibliography, pg. 253
- Afterword, pg. 255
- Appendix: Lexicographical Index of Turkish Vocal 271 Melodies, pg. 271
- Index of First Lines, pg. 281
- General Index, pg. 285