The musical work accompanying the Sema Ceremony, as performed by the chorus and orchestra (collectively called “mutrib”), is the Mevlevi Ayin. The works in this form are composed with a mind to being in harmony with the ceremony in terms of both structure and feel.
It can be said that the Mevlevi Ayin, along with the Sema Ceremony, began to take its shape in the 15th and 16th centuries, and reached its present form around the 16th and 17th.
The Persian poetry from the Mesnevi, Divan-i Kebir and Rubaiyat by Hz. Mevlana have been implemented in the ayin, and this poetry has its own unique properties. The poems of certain Mevlevi poets are composed as the lyrics for an Ayin. Counted among the Mevlevi poets are Sultan Veled, Ulu Arif Çelebi, Ahmed Eflakî Dede, Şeyh Galib Dede, Molla Camî, Şeyhî, Semtî and Gavsî Dede.
These same verses can appear in different ayins. However, the quatrain by Eflaki Dede below is utilized in the third part of all ayins:
May our Sultan be praised, a thousand times over!
And may those in subjection be Sultans themselves.
And anyone who becomes a follower and slave of Sultan Veled
May he be Sir if he is abject, and Sultan if he’s Sir.
In addition, a well-known quadrant of Mevlana is fitted in the 4th part of all ayins:
My Sultan, you are indeed my Sultan
The faith in my heart and soul
I’d resurrect if you’d but once stir me.
What’s a single soul? When you’re my soul made many…
However, a different lyric appears in the 4th part of Ahmed Avni Konuk’s Buselikashiran Ayin.
An important feature of these works is that they are a composite of works from different people and/or ages. For instance, the Pençgah Ayin, which is said to have been written in about the beginning of the 16th century, begins with a peshrev by Neyzen Salih Dede, a great composer of the 19th century.
As in the Sema Ceremony, the Mevlevi ayin is composed of four parts, each of which is called a “selam”. The Devr-i Kebîr beat employed in the opening peshrevs of the ayin differ from the Devr-i Kebîr employed in the peshrevs of Classical Turkish Music.
The usul, or rhythmic pattern, called Muzaaf Devr-i Kebir, is the slowest of the Devr-i Kebir patterns. This slower rhythm is used in the peshrevs of Sema Ceremonies in order to accompany the Devr-i Veledi walk (explained above) for which it is well suited. The rather lengthy Muzaaf Devr-i Kebir pattern is preferred to avoid the frequent repetition of shorter patterns. The peshrev is played until the Devr-i Veledi comes to a close. For this reason, the peshrevs used in ayins generally lack a definite end note.
The first part of the ayin is usually based on the rhythmic pattern Devr-i Revan, and in some cases, Ağır Duyek. The second and fourth parts are based on the rhythmic pattern Aır Evfer; and it is customary for these parts to start with the last five counts in the Ağır Evfer pattern. In some ayins the lyrics and music of the second and fourth parts are identical, whereas in others, though the music of the second and fourth parts may be the same, the lyrics may differ.
In the third part of the ayin we find the most grandeur, containing shifts in both rhythmic pattern as well as mode. The third part generally begins with Devr-i Kebir which is twenty-eight meters. Sometimes rhythmic patterns of Frenkçin, Ağir Duyek and Evsat are used instead of Devr-i Kebir.
After the Devr-i Kebir portion of the third part, there comes a segment which is based on an Aksak Semai by Ahmed Eflaki Dede; the quatrain beginning with:
May our Sultan be praised, a thousand times over!
Its lyrics are in Turkish and based on the Yuruk Semai pattern. The same pattern is maintained tying inversed and instrumental portions while gradually accelerating.
The parts of the Mevlevi Ayin are composed with the meanings of the Sema Ceremony in mind as explained above. As stated before, the third part of the Sema Ceremony symbolizes the enraptured status of the human’s admiration of Allah’s greatness and omnipotence, an admiration which transforms into love. The parts are composed with gradually accelerating rhythms and escalating pitches.
The fourth part symbolizes the Human’s return to the position and perception of being a slave. With the pattern of Ağir Evfer, the melody conjures a sober tranquility rather than any rapture.
The ayin closes with the Closing Peshrev and the Closing Yuruk Semai, which follow the fourth part respectively. The music of the Closing Peshrev is either composed on the pattern of Duyek, or rearranged in order to conform with it.
The Mevlevi Ayin is considered the greatest of works in Turkish Music. For this reason, composing an ayin is deemed as the highest achievement of composers. The prominent musicologist and Istanbul Conservatoire Chairman of the Commission for Classification and Determination , Rauf Yekta Bey, comments on the Mevlevi Ayin in the Foreword of the publication “Mevlevi Ayinleri” in 1934:
“When the magnificent history of Turkish music is written, it would be revealed that the most famous Turkish composers are Mevlevi. They employed most of their intelligence and genius in composing the ayin. That is why the ayin has become a valuable treasure among the greatest works of Turkish Music. Our musical masters advised their students to examine the ayin deeply in order to grasp the pearls of our national music. For there isn’t any other way to better understand how Turks have been successful, especially in music; and there isn’t any other way to understand how works of the same spirit and caliber are to be produced even in the present, than by studying this heritage.
The number of Mevlevi Ayins composed in the Period of the Mevlevi Lodges (the period from the establishment of the lodges until November 30, 1925: the day on which the Law on the Abolishment of Lodges and Tombs and Certain Titles was put into effect) for which we the have notes today is forty-five. The number of ayins known only by name is twenty-nine.
We hope that the number of notated ayins would be increased.
