Ishak Sungurluoglu, left the 4 volumed book about the culture of Harput-Elazig region, 'In the roads to Harput' In the third volume which is printed in 1961, he introduces all the sound artists and then introduces the fifth and last artist like this: 'There also exists a young guy in Elazig who is growing up as a sound hero. His voice is really powerful and effective as it is powerful. His name is Enver. He is the son of the deceased Rüstü Bey of Palu, and the nephew of our lovely friend Ali Bey. I wish, if he masters the procedures of Hafiz Osman and fixes his tongue, he can become the best sound artist of Harput and its surroundings.” More than forty years have passed since these lines are written. Now, Enver Demirbag is in the edge of his seventies and he cannot sing becouse of a disease he has had. But, in the past 40 years he was the first name coming to mind when 'Harput Musici' is in concern. This album is prepared as 2 CDs and has best records records for archieve of Enver Demirbag between 1961-1990. This album is very important as it introduces Harput Music to young generations and is the first source having the well-organized records of Enver Demirbag.
Among Enver Demirbağ’s 45s, two pieces in the “divan”
form are especlally noteworthy. The first, a gazel by Rifat Dede beginning with
the lines “Ben şehid-i badeyem dostlar, demim yâd eyleyin” (I am a martyr
to the wine goblet, friends, remember my breath), and the second, a gazel by
Rasih, using the lyrics “Süzme çeşmim gelmesün müjgân müjgân üstüne” (My
eyes, don’t drift shut, let your eyelashes not meet ). In Harput as in other
cities of the Euphrates basin, Fuzuli has had a great influence, and Enver Demirbağ
also, in the gazels, which he sings in different makams, prefers his poetry. To
this end, he even acquired the “Fuzuli Divan.” For instance the gazel beginning
with Fuzuli’s lines “Merhem koyup onarma sinemde kanlu dağı,” has
become very popular. Because it is sung in the İbrahimiye makam, it has
become known for short simply as “İbrahimiye” or “Harput İbrahimiyesi
(İbrahimiye of Harput).” When Enver Demirbağ, the best known singer
of İbrahimiye, sang gazels in other makams such as Hüseyni,
Uşşak and Bayati, he also perferred Fuzuli’s poetry for the lyrics.
For the lyrics of another tune whose form is also known as “müstezad”, he thus
uses Fuzuli’s müstezads. Let us note right here that these gazels must not be
confused with the religious gazels of Istanbul music where the name of Allah is
sung; these tend be slower pieces of whom the composer has been forgotten.
Besides the classical and slow forms of Harput music, Enver
Demirbağ also is a masterful singer of maya, which like the aforementioned
forms, are sung a fourth high and whose lyrics are free form variable quatrains
in a 4 + 4 + 3 meter; tecnis with quatrains in a 6 + 5 meter; and hoyrat, which
is a mani with seven-syllable lines. In the Harput tradition, there is a slower
form of maya called “cılgalı maya,” and Enver Demirbağ is the
best known interpreter of these. Hoyrat, a form especially widespread in the
triangle between the cities of Urfa, Kerkük and Harput, shows more variety in
makam. The Haput hoyrats, performed with variable lyrics and called various
names such as kürdi, elezber (arazbar), bağrıyanık, kesik,
şirvan, muhalif and ölüm hoyratı, are nearly as numerous, and Enver
Demirbağ performed all of them with great success. Demirbağ also sang
many pieces in the “türkü” (folk song) form. Of these, his renditions of
“Geline Bak Geline” (variant: Mendilim İşle Yolla), “Dağlar
Dağımdır Benim,” “Dersim Dört Dağ İçinde,” “O
Yanı Pembe,” “Aş Yedim Dilim Yandı,” “Gel Benim Gelin Yarim,”
“Yüksek Minarede Kandiller Yanar” and “Görmedim Alemde Bir Benzerin Ey Güzel”
are among the most famous.
In assembling an archive of Enver Demirbağ’s music, I
was faced with great difficulty in deciding just what to include. Just as it
was difficult to choose favorites from the pieces he had recorded, there was
also the problem of which particular recording to choose. Another issue was
that most of the pieces were not recorded in professional studios, but rather
in the natural musical environments of the region — some at private parties,
spontaneous celebrations, weddings — and some at private tape recording studios
under primitive conditions. Consequently we based our work on authentic
recordings with no electronic effects, and tried to provide the most
characteristic examples of music from Enver Demirbağ’s musical journey
from 1961 to the present, starting with 45s and going through radio recordings,
cassettes and CDs. We hope that in this way the differences between the
recordings of the pieces, which we have tried to pass on in the most natural
way possible, will be clear.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the indefatiguable archivist
of Harput music, Yılmaz Kalender, for his help in acquiring pieces from
the Enver Demirbağ archive; and to the director of Kalan Music, Hasan
Saltık and his team, who consistently show such love for this music. And
to the artist Enver Demirbağ himself, who still lives in Elazığ
under difficult conditions, we wish a healthy and long life.
Enver Demirbağ