The tradition of religious music and women's mawlid recitation in the Dursunbey district of Balıkesir

Undoubtedly, one of the most important fields of our cultural heritage is music. Turkish Religious Music is one of the chains of our existing musical heritage which was shaped through incorporating the components of aesthetics, religious belief and worshipping of this heritage and it is characterized by the diversity that it harbors. It is composed of variety of categories with its types which are performed both in mosques and dervish lodges ranging from recitation of Koran and chants to Bektashi songs and mawlawi ceremonies. In this study, one subgenre of mawlid, which is the joint product of tekke music and mosque music, which is not widespread in today's tradition and recited with a composed melody was addressed. It should also be emphasized that the historical value of this study and women's being the reciters worth consideration. Based on the existing data, Turkish Religious Music tradition, which is peculiar to the district, the dynamics that constitute this tradition, features of composed mawlid recitation and biographies of reciters constitute the basis of this study. Qualitative research method was used in this study. After addressing the dissertations, articles and publications written in the literature, a field research was conducted through interviews made by mawlid reciters. In the light of the results that have been reached, the composed mawlid, which is being recited over 150 years and constitute a traditional structure in the Dursunbey District of Balıkesir, its way of recitation and its historical aspects was addressed. Recitation of composed mawlid was recorded while being performed and was notated, tradition of mawlid recitation was analyzed and local religious chants who are recited in the region was notated and presented to repertoire of Turkish Religious Music.