Search - Mehmet Sakir, Hayri Dev :: Violin of the Yayla

The yayla are summer grazing grounds in the valleys of the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey. It is here that Mehmet Sakir and Hayri Dev learned their music, Sakir the fiddle, Dev the uçtelli, or lute. Sakir is an amateur in that he only plays on request for social events like weddings. Dev is a professional whose whole life is focused on his music, even as he works another job. The four pieces here were performed in impromptu fashion (Sakir and Dev do not normally play together but happened to be around when the recordist was looking for music). The first is a "long melody," a sad solo song for violin and voice, followed by a few brief, uptempo dance tunes accompanied by lute. The second is also a dance tune, preceded by an odd, nine-beat introduction. The third set is a wonderful group of fast dances on which Sakir and Dev both really show their energy and skill on the instruments. Last is a powerful lament about a young woman who drowns on her wedding day, and the expressiveness of Sakir's voice and its mimicked violin part are close to heart-rending. This is the real thing, folk music as a living part of the community it comes from. --Louis Gibson