An opi̇ni̇on regarding the general characteristics of the hymns, their formal structures, and the classification of some forms of Turki̇sh religious music with similar properties as hymn form

Abstract

With the Turks' making Anatolia their homeland in the 11th century, many poets, dervishes and sufi poets sang their national poems with mystical features with their instruments in order to express spiritual feelings and try to spread the religion. These works, which are called, have gained names such as tawhid, münacat, na’t, tevsih, mersiye, savt, nefes, shugul, temcid and tasbih in the following centuries according to some of their different characteristics. The fact that these names, which are similar to the hymns in every respect, are considered as the main forms of Turkish religious music today, makes it very difficult to define the hymn form. Because hymns have general features that will gather all these differences within themselves. In the Turkish music literature, it is seen that these forms are far from a standard definition and classification. For this reason, many religious music forms today can be described as hymns forms. Although this shows how important and general form the hymns are, it causes a conceptual and classification confusion in the field of education, academic studies and performance.