An examination of the pençgâh compositions in Kantemiroğlu's Edvâr and the Dârü'l-Elhân collection in the context of theoretical sources

This thesis investigates the mode (makam) Pençgâh as represented in Demetrius Cantemir's Kitāb-i 'İlmi'l-Mūsikī 'alā Veche'l-Hurūfāt (the so-called Edvâr and its collection of notations) and in the early twentieth-century Dârü'l-Elhân notation series, with a view to reassessing, on the basis of notated repertory, the distinction drawn in modern Turkish theory between pençgâh-ı asl and pençgâh-ı zâid. A total of twenty-eight pieces labelled Pençgâh in these two sources are subjected to qualitative document analysis. On this corpus a holistic makam analysis is undertaken, and a colour-coded analysis of melodic development (seyir) is applied to the zemin (opening / main section) in each piece, i.e. the section taken to embody the core modal characteristics. The observations are supported by simple descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage distributions). The analyses show that pençgâh-ı asl and pençgâh-ı zâid display distinct and recognisable patterns in their opening of the melody (âgâz), melodic development (seyir), and cadential or final behaviour (karar). The deployment of nişâbur and ısfahân layers within the overall structure of the mode exhibits both continuity and divergence between Cantemir's collection and the Dârü'l-Elhân corpus. Furthermore, scale- and development-based descriptions of Pençgâh in the later theoretical literature account only partially for the melodic diversity encountered in the notated repertory; taking into account the functioning of the Pençgâh şube on the Rast–Nevâ axis and historically attested pitch systems (perde düzenleri) substantially increases explanatory power. The study thus contributes to a reconsideration of Pençgâh within Ottoman-Turkish art music and proposes an analytical framework applicable to other makams.