An analysis of felek as a concept in relation to history of Turkish religious music

Throughout the centuries, the concept of "felek" has been discussed by different disciplines. Even though, scholarly attention has been diverted towards the concept of "felek", its relation with music has been neglected. To fill in this lacuna, the central task of this study to reveal the relationship between felek and music, thereby depicting the importance of felek for the religious form of music. In that respect, this study is structured into two consequent sections. The first section contains a literature review through which the concept of felek is analyzed, alongside an investigation of the relationship among felek, human being, and music. Meanwhile, the second section is reserved for the musical analysis with respect to on which partition the "felek" is positioned and in what meaning it is used. The results of the analyses show that the concept of felek does not only correspond with the symbolic rituals of Mevlevis, but also "felek" is positioned at the highest tone on the partition.