An analysis of Alâeddin Yavaşca's works in the medhal form from the perspective of mode and melodic progression

This research, conducted with the aim of uncovering the rhythmic characteristics of maqams based on the medhal-form works of classical Turkish music artist and composer Alaeddin Yavaşca from his own archive, utilized document review/document analysis methods to identify the situation within the qualitative research model. The research conducted maqam analyses on Alaeddin Yavaşca's medhal-form works from his own archive, developed new maqam expressions for the works, and created maqam examples based on these expressions. Based on this, the study serves as a written resource to address missing and inconsistent aspects of the theoretical literature, reflecting the maqam understandings not only of Alaeddin Yavaşca's own time but also of previous and subsequent periods. The findings obtained in the study reveal that the modes observed in Alâeddin Yavaşca's compositions in the medhal form exhibit modal handling styles that may contribute to making the maqams more comprehensible and definable. In the research, the results derived from the findings related to the main problem and sub-problems, as well as the evaluation of these findings, are presented. Considering the modal and seyir definitions of theorists from both earlier periods and Yavaşca's own period, an analysis of how the composer treats the maqams and seyirs in his works demonstrates that Yavaşca's pitch usage and particularly his choices of initial tones show differences from those theorists' definitions, while his final tones are generally similar. Accordingly, it was determined that the maqam progressions in the composer's works in the medhal form differ from the definitions provided by theorists of the period only in certain pieces in terms of maqam and pitch usage. Furthermore, evaluations based on the Arel–Ezgi theory indicate that the points of discrepancy arise from sections described through concepts such as scale/tetrachord–pentachord, since the seyirs were analyzed from a perspective other than these conceptual definitions. Keywords: Alâeddin Yavasca, Medhal, Maqam, Seyir, Maqam and Seyir Analysis.