Schenkerian approach to maqam music: Analyses of five pieces in maqam rast

In this study; a reductive analysis which roots its fundamental approach and terminology in Schenkerian Analysis was developed and applied on five works given in maqam rast by the composers of the peak era of Ottoman-Turkish music, 17th-19th centuries. With this analysis, the structural levels of the pieces were presented in five layers from surface to the background and displayed by an original graphic representation. The analyzes have revealed a characteristic form of melodic progression, which is of great importance in terms of being seen in all levels. In addition to identifying the prolongation and elaboration processes in the middleground levels, regarding the background, as an equivalent for Schenker's fundamental line (the descending element of the fundamental structure) two structures descending from neva to rast were found: one omitting çargah and thus descending as neva-segah-dügah-rast; and the other one, neva-hüseyni-neva-çargah-segah-dügah-rast, reflecting the aforementioned characteristic form of progression. As a result of the examination of the relation between maqam-structure and musical form, it has been observed that the works collectively include an Initial Ascend from rast to neva in the first form element, and a secondary descend in the following element elaborating the structural neva note. Subsequently, it was found that this structural neva was extended by various means up to the final form element where the background closure takes place. Moreover, the factors that serve for the principle of organic coherence, which is a central concept for Schenkerian Analysis, have been investigated in the works. It was seen that the high levels of organic coherence in the pieces was maintained by symmetrical form construction and by repetition of the structural motifs in both the same and different structural levels. Keywords: Maqam rast, Schenkerian Analysis, structural level, reduction, organic coherence