Change and transformation in Turkish Folk Music ensembles from Yurttan Sesler tradition to the present: The example of İzmir region

Turkish Folk Music, which is formed as a result of the improvisational expression of such experienced feelings and thoughts as joy, happiness, death, expatriation, war, separation, pain, is an important cultural tool in terms of integrating and cohesiveness of the society. In this context, the subject of this research is the systematic and institutional transfer of Turkish Folk Music and the examination of the changes and transformations of the Yurttan Sesler Ensemble Tradition, which had an important function in line with the cultural intermediary role due to the music policy of the period, in terms of their effects on today's folk music ensembles, describing the data obtained, reaching the conclusion and presenting the results with a situation-determining and relationship-seeking approach. This study aims to examine the tradition of Yurttan Sesler Ensemble, which has an important place in terms of Traditional Turkish Folk Music in radio broadcasting, in the context of its current place and its reflections on the choir work and performance of various institutions and organizations that continue their activities today. In the research, Ankara and Izmir Radios Yurttan Sesler Group broadcasts were attended, interviews were held with their choristers, and the radio magazines in the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) archive were examined in line with literature review, participatory observation and qualitative interview methods. In addition, Turkish Folk Music choir studies and concerts operating in İzmir were attended, examinations were made, and interviews were held with choristers and saz (a string instrument) performers accompanying the concerts. It has been found in line with the investigations that the effects of the Yurttan Sesler tradition continue to a minimum in Turkish Folk Music choirs, which continue their activities today, and that their aims and concerns are very different from the tradition. The research is considered important in that not a current systematic study on the subject has been performed before in the field and it reveals the phases of Turkish Folk Music in the context of the representation of tradition and the situation it has come to. Key Words: Traditional Turkish Folk Music, Yurttan Sesler, Cultural Intermediary, Change, Transformation