Köyde Sabah (Morning in the Village)

Morning in the Village, Köyde Sabah with its original title, is written for the oud (the ancient Turkish plucked string instrument) by a great Turkish composer and oud virtuoso Cinüçen Tanrıkorur. The oud, being the father of the lute, gave me the confidence that this masterpiece of Tanrıkorur, would create a beautiful composition when arranged for the classical guitar, with a specific tuning system. The tuning system that I formed for this piece allowed me to create certain intervals such as 4^th and 5^th, with the free counterpoint, as well as oud-like sound texture. 

Taksim means improvisation. It is generally played before the instrumental pieces or songs to set the makam (mode) of the piece in the classical Turkish music tradition. General characteristics of the makam have to be shown when the performer improvises. Improvisation can be learned best with the relationship between master and pupil. The pupil has to imitate his master first and then find and develop his own character. But in this piece, in order to make it easier for any guitarist unfamiliar with classical Turkish music, the first section of the arrangement was written as a standard improvisation, so that everyone could comfortably play without worrying about playing it in proper style.

The entire piece is originally written as monophonic and without any ornamentation. Turkish music players add ornamentations each time differently according to their own æsthetic. I wrote the ornamentations into the arrangement and made it standard for this particular piece to make it more authentic, and easier for those unfamiliar with the ornamentations improvised by classical Turkish musicians.

The form of the piece was structured in 5 sections or hane; 1^st hane, teslim 2^nd hane, 3^rd hane and 4^th hane. After each hane the performer has to go back to the teslim. This particular piece of instrumental form is called Saz Semaisi. Saz Semaisi would be considered similar to Rondo because of the repetition of teslim. It used to be played as the introduction to the songs in Turkish music tradition. 

In order to play the quarter tones in this piece, the pitch should be bent up 40 cents. In this piece the only quartertone is C. The best way to learn this is to listen to the recordings of Turkish music masters. 

As a brief description, there are over three hundred makam (modes) in Classical Turkish Music. Morning In The Village is written in the makam Hüseyni. Although, originally Hüseyni starts from the note A, in this transcription A is transposed to B. Since the tonic is B, F sharp is considered the dominant note in the makam. It is clear to see this feature throughout the entire piece, including the taksim section. Hüseyni is a very characteristic and commonly used makam for the Turkish folk music tradition as well. Tanrıkorur illustrates a Turkish village by using the folk like effect of Hüseyni. Even though the piece is written for oud, it is meant to imitate balama, which might be considered as the “guitar of Turkish folk music”. When I wrote the rasgueado section it clearly draws attention to the balama technique. 

New approach to the classical guitar playing 

As a composer and arranger, I highly support the traditional usage of Turkish music on the classical guitar. I wrote the taksim and ornamentations with great respect to the hundreds of years of Turkish musical tradition. I relied on my own taste and experience from playing with and learning from my family, who are classical Turkish music masters. Thank you grandfather, Teoman Kaya, father Mehmet Refik Kaya and uncle Neyzen Ahmet Kaya for passing down this cultural heritage. I believe this arrangement will bring a unique perspective to the modern classical guitar repertoire.