A COMPARATIVE EXAMINATION OF SEMAH AND HALAY TUNES IN TURKISH FOLK MUSIC

Abstract

Semah and halay tunes are one of the important elements with a extensive history in the society. Although semah and halay tunes, which date back to ancient times, are performed in different areas, they are thought to have a common history. These two types of Turkish folk music are performed in many regions and locals. Semah, which is a religious ritual, has a place in the Alevi-Bektashi tradition, and halay has been a genre performed entirely in social entertainment gatherings. In the researches conducted in this field it is commonly stated that halays have a religious context in the past and that they have traces of the ancient belief of the Turks, Shamanism. It is evaluated that the figures in the religious rites performed in the belief of shamanism have similarities with the halay dances performed in social entertainments today. When comparing the semah and halay tunes, which are said to share a common history, and examining the similarities and differences of the semah and halay tunes in terms of maqam, method and region, it is seen that there are more similarities. While the semah and halay tunes are similar in terms of maqam and region, it has been determined that they are performed in different methods. In the research, it was aimed to compare the semah and halay tunes in the TRT THM repertoire. As a method in the research, literature review methods from qualitative research methods and document analysis method from data analysis methods were used