Abstract:

Religion is one of the important elements affecting societies. With the wars that were fought, many societies got acquainted with new forms of faith. Turks living in Anatolia also got acquainted with the Alevi faith through the acceptance of Islam. People of the Alevi faith first gathered in tekkes and dargahs to perform their worship. Then, with the closure of the tekke and dergahs, they performed their worship in the Cem houses.  One of the important elements used in worship in Cem houses is music. Music, is the basis of the worship performed. This religious music is called semah.In many regions of Anatolia, communities with the Alevi faith live. This form of belief continues to exist in the Arapgir region of Malatya. When the TRT repertoire is examined, it is seen that there is a semah belonging to the Arapgir region but ın Demir's compilation studies conducted in 2011-2014, the number of semahs belonging to this region has increased. When the works compiled in the studies are examine, it is seen that they are all similar to the Huseyni maqam moreover it has also been determined that different procedural structures were used in the works.In the study, it is aimed to determine the religious musical characteristics of Alevi communities in Arapgir district by examining semahs belonging to the Arapgir region. Literature review, semi-structured interview and field research methods were used as methods in the study.

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