''Peşrev'' or Peshrev ( Turkish, "prelude"; pronounced ) is an instrumental form in

Ottoman music Ottoman music () or Turkish classical music (, or more recently ) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally features a solo singer wi ...

. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performance called a

fasıl The ''fasıl'' is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic '' nawba'' and '' waslah''. A classical ''fasıl'' generally includes movements such as '' taksim'', '' peşrev'', '' kâr'', '' beste'', ''ağır semâ'î'', '' ...

(). It also serves as the penultimate piece of the ''Mevlevi ayini'', a ritual music of the

Mevlevi Order The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (; ) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey (formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi ...

, under the name ''son peşrev'' (final peşrev), preceding ''son semai''. It usually uses long rhythm cycles, stretching over many measures as opposed to the simpler usul the other major form of instrumental music uses, ''

saz semai The ''saz semai'' (also spelled in Turkish language, Turkish as ''saz sema'i'', ''saz sema-i'', ''saz sema i'', ''saz semaī'', ''saz semâ'î'', ''sazsemai'', ''saz semaisi'', or ''sazsemaisi'' and in the Arab world as ''samâi'') is an instrum ...

''. Along with the

, called in Arabic the

sama'i ''Sama'i'' (also known as ''usul semai'') is a vocal piece of Ottoman Turkish music composed in meter. This form and meter ('' usul'' in Turkish) is often confused with the completely different '' saz semaisi'', an instrumental form consisting of ...

, it was introduced into

Arabic music Arabic music () is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse List of music styles, music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic Varieties of Arabic, dialects, with each countr ...

in the 19th century and became particularly popular in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Etymology

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, ''peşrev'' combines a

New Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

, ''piš'' "before, ahead" and the native term ''rev'', "that which goes". coming to mean "that which comes first".

Structure

Peşrevs are composed of movements called ''hane'' (lit. "house"), at the end of which there is always an unchanging particle introducing the '' teslim'' (lit. "handing in") ''mülazime'' (lit. "that which is inseparable or constant"), i.e. the refrain. Peşrevs are named after the

Turkish makam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ''maqām'' ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each ...

used in the first ''hane'' and usually end with this makam; in Turkish classical music theory, they are said to be "bound" to this makam. There are always modulations to other makams in the ''hane''s that follow the first ''hane'', but with the refrain (''teslim''), the piece always regains the principal mode. At the end of each ''hane'', a pause is made on the strong degree of its makam, forming a semi-cadence. This is called a ''yarım karar'' or ''nim karar'' (lit. "semi-decision"). Peşrevs usually have 4 ''hane''s, yet they occasionally have 2, 5 or 6.ÖZKAN, İsmail Hakkı, ''Türk Mûsıkîsi Nazariyatı ve Usûlleri: Kudüm Velveleleri'', Ötüken Neşriyat, Istanbul: 2000 (6th edition). In principle, they comport rather large ''usul''s, yet peşrevs with shorter rhythmical patterns do exist. One rule that is never transgressed is that this usul may ''not'' be a compound meter of the family

aksak In Ottoman musical theory, ''aksak'' () is a rhythmic system in which pieces or sequences, executed in a fast tempo, are based on the uninterrupted reiteration of a matrix, which results from the juxtaposition of rhythmic cells based on the alter ...

. Some peşrevs, called ''batak'' or ''karabatak'', are organized as to instigate a form of question-and-answer between instruments. If the ''hane''s are to be marked with , C, D, Eand the ''teslim'' with the regular structure of a peşrev would be A+B/C+B/D+B/E+B, thus always ending with the ''teslim''. For some, the ''teslim'' is also the first ''hane''; therefore they have the structure: A/B+A/C+A/D+A.

''Peşrev'' composers in Ottoman classical music

Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey was a prominent peşrev composer. Other composers include Tamburi Cemil Bey, Gazi Giray Han,

Dimitrie Cantemir Dimitrie or Demetrius; Cantemir (; ; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Moldavian prince, statesman, and man of letters. He twice served as voivode of Moldavia (March–April 1693 and 1710–1711). Durin ...

and Dilhayat Kalfa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pesrev Music of Turkey Arabic music Classical and art music traditions Musical forms Forms of Turkish makam music Forms of Ottoman classical music