FOLK MUSIC

Folk music in Kars shows the characteristics of Turkish folk music as it was one of the areas first settled by Turks in Anatolia, The Anatolian saz (a stringed musical instrument a bit like a lute; the term but also refers to all musical instruments in general and to groups of musicians) is widely used, but other instruments used in Asia and the Caucasus are also widespread. Melodies also feature traces of these different cultures

.Folk music and classical art music (the latter refers to the elite royal music which was later modernized in the republican years; it is mostly referred to as art music, and also unofficially as alla turca; popular samples are often played in meyhanes) date back to the 18th century in Kars. The composers and singers often travelled between Kars, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Asik Senlik of the village of Cildir became popular from the 1870s not only in his region but also in Iran and Azerbaijan, with his sazplaying and lyrics.

The first scentific musical study was carried out in Kars in 1937 by Ahmet Adnan Saygun. Nobody picked up his lead afterwards. But in later years poets like Asik Dursun Ceylani, Kurbani Kilic, Ismail Basaran, Ibrahim Yildirim, Sahin Kara Sahin continued to contribute to Kars folk music. Some of their works were compiled by Muzaffer Sarisozen.

The Turkish state broadcaster TRT started a study of folk music in Kars in 1963. Sahin Kara established a choral society and compiled many folk songs. During this period many Kars folk songs were compiled and spread around the country through the efforts of both TRT and a local folk music center.

More recently, Kars music is represented by composers like Asik Murat Cobanoglu and Asik Seref Tasliova. The most common instrument of the Asiks was the saz with 14 frets, but later they moved onto the baglama (a plucked instrument with three double strings and a long neck), which has 24 frets.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

KOPUZ

This instrument is very widespread in Azerbaijan; in Turkey it is mostly used in Kars. Most of the frets from mi to la exist, but there are no quarter or half tones. There are versions with 13 and 18 frets. Most local musicians use the one with 13 frets.

TAR

This is also more commonly used in Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia and Turkistan. Its body appears gnarled in the middle; it is generally made of mulberry wood and is covered by the skin of a cattle heart or fish. A plectrum made of bone is used to generate a strong sound.

Tar: Traditional musical instrument. Photograph: Vedat Akcayoz

KEMANE

The kemane’s body is made of wood and covered by the skin of a cattle heart. It has four strings and is played with a bow.

BAGLAMA

Generally known as a saz and divided into three groups depending on its size: cura, tambura and divan. In Kars, a baglama with a long neck is used but recently the short necked ones are also becoming popular. The cura gives a higher-pitched sound, while the divan is used for deeper sounds, and the tambura varies. The divan is more frequently used by folk musicians in Kars.

MEY

The best examples of this wind instrument are made of plum wood. Its body has seven holes in the front and one at the back. The musician blows through a reed, and the instrument is tuned by a pincer tied around this reed.

BALABAN

The balaban is often confused with the mey but its mouth and body are larger. The difference in pitch between the two instruments is half a tone.

DRUM

Weddings and other ceremonies in Kars are mostly held indoors, and thus big drums are rarely seen. The drum in Kars is mostly hung on one shoulder and is played with a mallet in the right hand and dried twigs in the left hand.

NAGARA

This is smaller than a drum and played with both hands. The right hand gives the drum sound and the left hand hitting at the side of the instrument gives the beat. It is used in place of the more widespread def (or tef, tambourine) in the region. There is also a different version called kosa nagara or cifte (double) nagara which has two parts and whose body is made either of metal or wood and played with sticks

ZURNA

A wind instrument like a clarion or shrill pipe made of any hard wood; again, the plum wood version is the most valuable. In Kars, medium-sized zurnas are used. Its mouth is narrow but the tip is wide enough to fit an egg. It has eight holes.

TULUM

A wind instrument made of goat or kid skin. Musicians place its body under their armpits and puff into it with their breath, which moves from there into the wooden playing part which has holes. It is mostly played in villages where stockbreeding is common.

ACCORDION and GARMON

The accordion is not a local instrument but is often played in Kars too. The garmon is played with four fingers, and like the accordion it does not make the half or quarter tones which are characteristic of Turkish music.

KAVAL

A wind instrument made of wood. There are two versions, known as with tongue and without tongue. The tongued one has six holes in the front and one at the back, and is mostly played by shepherds. The other has seven holes in the front and one at the back and is used in towns.

FOLK DANCES

Folk dances in Kars are mostly danced to drums and shrill pipes (zurna). In town centers, more instruments are used than in villages. There are also dances accompanied by words or narratives. There are more than 100 dances in common use around

Kars, some involving men and women together and others with only men or only women. These dances are mostly performed by dancers holding each other’s little fingers, but sometimes they hold onto each other’s shoulders or dance arm in arm. The lead is normally the person on the right end, and he directs the dance with a handkerchief in his free hand. Sometimes he tips the musicians during the dance. The dancer next to the leader is called koltuk which literally means armchair. The other dancers are called low, high or middle according to the dance and their positions. The dancer at the end of the line is called ‘poccuk’. This local saying means end or tip, and he is the most active dancer of the line.