Lyrics miscellanies as a source of Turkish music history

Gufte mecmuas (lyrics miscellanies) are notebooks that contain evidence showing that the poems in their content were composed by using one or more of the references such as makam, usûl, composition type, composer's name. They enable the compiler to sing a musical piece in which the melody is kept in his memory, by referring to them when appropriate. In a world where music was not written, works were learned only by going to a master and 'beating the knee', and the works were kept in memory, lyrics miscellanies were very important. These mecmuas were often necessary to remind the owner of the lyrics of the piece. Hundreds of lyrics miscellanies, which we determined to have been used extensively in musical life since the 15th century, are in our hands today as one of the sources of music history. When lyrics miscellanies, which have not been dealt with in this respect, are examined within the framework of history discipline and in line with the methods described in this thesis, they will be able to contribute to the writing of the historiography of Turkish music. In this study, the reasons for the composition of the lyrics miscellanies and their functions in performance practice are determined. The historical development processes of the branches that are divided into genres such as fasil, şarki, tesbih, ilâhî, âyîn-i şerîf, mi'râciyye, mevlid-i şerîf were emphasized, and the historical development processes of the mentioned lyrics miscellanies are discussed in terms of how it can be evaluated as a historical source with examples. Keywords: Turkish Classical Music, music manuscripts, güfte mecmuaları/lyrics miscellanies, historical sources, maqam, music, fasil.