Konservatoryum (Dec 2022)
Reflections of Ara Dinkjian’s Musical Identity onto His Works in Popular Turkish Music
Abstract
This study examines 20 musical pieces belonging to Ara Dinkjian, an Armenian composer in America living in the Armenian American diaspora, that were added to the Popular Turkish Music repertoire from the 1980s to the present along the axis of his musical identity. Dinkjian was raised with polyphonic church hymns in the Armenian Apostolic Church to which he was affiliated. At this same time, he was also put in touch with Anatolian folk music thanks to his father, the Paris-born Onnik Dinkjian with roots in Diyarbakır. Dinkjian may be viewed as a musician who, in addition to his other compositions, tried to keephis Diyarbakır roots intact through the works he added to the popular Turkish music repertoire and that have modal and makambased elements. The study will examine the effects of Ara Dinkjian’s musical identity on popular Turkish music compositions. His closeness to Anatolian folk music, growing up in the Armenian Apostolic Church, and living in the Armenian American diaspora are thought to have contributed greatly to the formation of Ara Dinkjian’s musical identity. In addition to various evaluations of the elements that create his identity, this study also conducts a harmonic, modal, and makam analysis of his works. Of the 20 musical pieces from Dinkjian this study analyzes, 15 make direct use of makam intervals. Three other pieces resemble makams, although they are composed in a tonal context (i.e., Turkish makam abstraction using a tonal system). The remaining two musical pieces have been composed in minor keys. Based on the findings, the study suggests Dinkjian’s musical identity to have been affected by his knowledge of the makam music he had taken from the Armenian Apostolic Church and his father, which are generally reflected onto all his compositions, particularly onto his works found in popular Turkish music.
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