Bozlak is a form of Turkish folk song from

Central Anatolia The Central Anatolia Region ( tr, İç Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Ankara. Other big cities are Konya, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Sivas, and Aksaray. Located in Central Turkey, it is borde ...

accompanied by the long-necked baglama (divan sazı),

davul The davul, dhol, tapan, atabal or tabl is a large double-headed drum that is played with mallets. It has many names depending on the country and region. These drums are commonly used in the music of the Middle East and the Balkans. These drums ...

and

zurna The zurna ( Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: ''зурна/зурла''; Serbian: зурла/zu ...

. The main subjects of the melancholic songs are separation and love. The songs begin with a very high pitched vocal and end in a low vocal. The best known players are Toklumenli Aşık Said, Muharrem Ertaş,

Neşet Ertaş Neşet Ertaş (1938 – 25 September 2012) was a Turkish folk music singer, lyricist, modern ashik and virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument the bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as ''halk ozanı'', which literally means ...

, Hacı Taşan and Çekiç Ali. Bozlak, which is a form of uzun hava (long tune) in Turkish Folk Music, has been a form of music starting from Central Anatolia and an expression of the cultures of the Yoruk / Turkmen and Avshar tribes which pursue a way of life based on yaylak (summer highland pasture)- and kislak (winter pasture). In terms of meaning, the word ‘bozlak’ has the meanings of to shout, to yell, to cry out, and to burst out. The bursting out of the sorrow, desolation and the outbreak that the Turkmens and Avshars experienced in daily life to the nature caused the emergence of the bozlak culture. Turkmens, Avshars and the Abdals who existed among these tribes have transferred the tradition of bozlak to our day. The term ‘bozlak’ means to scream, to revolt; ‘to struggle’ and with this frame this term is used to deal with social concepts such as death, separate, and pain, and it is seen in the several parts of the country especially in the Middle Anatolia and Çukurova region, and two different style; ‘Avshar style’ and ‘Turkmen style’ is used in ‘bozlak’ thus, using two different makam (tones).

References

* Rosie Ayliffe, ''The rough guide to Turkey'' (5th ed.)

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

, 2003, , p.1031 Turkish words and phrases {{Music-genre-stub Azerbaijani culture Azerbaijani music Turkish music Turkmenistan music

See also

References