Today is the tenth anniversary of the death of the composer Ergüder Yoldaş. First of all, I wish him mercy.
Then I remembered Sultan-i Yegah.
That old recording sung by Comrade Nur. Her voice is burnt, unadorned. But it leaves a mark.
There are songs that we never get tired of listening to for years; Sultan-ı Yegah is one of them.
This piece is not just a piece of music. It is also a piece that conveys a sense of a period.
Lyrics by Attila İlhan, composition by Ergüder Yoldaş.
There is another narrative about the period when Attila İlhan wrote this poem. In some sources and according to those who know the period, Sultan-ı Yegah is not only a poem of personal sadness; it is said to carry an implicit reference to the repressive, monophonic periods of Turkey.
The composition was composed in 1981; that is, the heavy silence of the post-September 12 period was still in effect. The night, the dimming lights and the images that intensify in the poem are associated with the spirit of the period. “Reign” The word is also read as a symbol of authority and oppression rather than splendor.
The song turns you inward; it evokes the night and a dark stillness.
There is no clear story in the lyrics. Neither an event is described, nor a person. A mood is created. That's why everyone can find something from their own life while listening.
And then comes the breaking point of the song;
“Mysterious wings / the darkness of death in the soul...”
Here the emotion of the song is heightened with Nur Comrade's voice. Here “death”, For most readings, it's not so much a physical ending as an unspeakable weight that settles over you. That state when you stop for a moment and realize that everything is temporary. A silent darkness. So it's more awareness than fear. At this point in the song, the outside world falls silent; one is alone with oneself.
It is not for nothing that Comrade Nur sang this part at length. Her voice opens up a little there, breaks a little. And the listener stops right there. This is the moment of the song that leaves a mark on the heart.
As for the composition
Ergüder Yoldaş is a composer with a conservatory background and strong musical knowledge. He has the equipment to do easily consumed works if he wants. But he chooses a heavy poet like Attila İlhan and composes this poem not with a flashy music, but with an introverted structure.
This approach coincides with his life. After the bright period of his career, he gradually withdraws into himself. For many years he lived a more solitary, simpler life in Büyükada. He moves away from the crowds of the music world. He spends the last period of his life again out of the public eye.
Composition, lyrics and interpretation do not suppress each other. The three move in the same direction.
Maybe this is the reason why Sultan-ı Yegah has not gotten old over the years. It does not impose a ready-made emotion on the listener. It gives a short break to the emotions that we go through without realizing it in the speed of daily life.
That's why for me Sultan-i Yegah is no longer just a piece I love. It is a piece that I listen to in a different way after I learned its story.
There are some songs that do not resist time. They blend into time.
Sultan-i Yegah is one of them.