János Sipos’ instrumental and vocal collections from Anatolia, Turkey.

While the languages of different Turkish peoples have been subjected to thorough comparative analysis, only the first few steps have been taken in the comparative research of their musics...

From the instruments the kaval 'long pipe' is often sounded, and sometimes the sipsi 'reed' and the balama 'long-necked three-stringed lute' can also be heard. The most common musicians at a village wedding are still the zurna 'Turkish pipe' players and the davul 'drum' players. The professional wedding musicians entertain the revellers with halays, which are dance series made up of dances of different rhythm (tr. 6, 25). Lately there have been bands of a different composition. Sometimes the zurna is replaced by the clarinet, for example in a soldiers's farewell (tr. 18). In other places the fiddle takes the lead (tr. 19, 20). The tunes, however, in such cases too, are always accompanied by persussion, and no harmony appears in the accompaniment.

János Sipos