Peşrev orPeshrev (Turkish, "prelude"; pronounced[peʃˈɾev]) is an instrumental form inOttoman music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performance called afasıl (Turkish pronunciation:[faˈsɯɫ]). It also serves as thepenultimate piece of theMevlevi ayini, a ritual music of theMevlevi Order, under the nameson peşrev (final peşrev), precedingson semai. It usually uses long rhythm cycles, stretching over many measures as opposed to the simplerusul the other major form of instrumental music uses,saz semai.
Along with thesaz semai, called in Arabic thesama'i, it was introduced intoArabic music in the 19th century and became particularly popular inEgypt.
InOttoman Turkish,peşrev combines aNew Persianloanword,piš "before, ahead" and the native termrev, "that which goes". coming to mean "that which comes first".
Peşrevs are composed of movements calledhane/haːˈne/ (lit. "house"), at the end of which there is always an unchanging particle introducing theteslim/tesˈliːm/ (lit. "handing in")a.k.a.mülazime/mylaːziˈme/ (lit. "that which is inseparable or constant"), i.e. the refrain. Peşrevs are named after theTurkish makam used in the firsthane and usually end with this makam; in Turkish classical music theory, they are said to be "bound" to this makam. There are always modulations to other makams in thehanes that follow the firsthane, but with the refrain (teslim), the piece always regains the principal mode. At the end of eachhane, a pause is made on the strong degree of its makam, forming a semi-cadence. This is called ayarım karar ornim karar (lit. "semi-decision"). Peşrevs usually have 4hanes, yet they occasionally have 2, 5 or 6.[1]
In principle, they comport rather largeusuls, yet peşrevs with shorter rhythmical patterns do exist. One rule that is never transgressed is that this usul maynot be a compound meter of the familyaksak. Some peşrevs, calledbatak orkarabatak, are organized as to instigate a form of question-and-answer between instruments.
If thehanes are to be marked with [A, C, D, E] and theteslim with [B], the regular structure of a peşrev would be A+B/C+B/D+B/E+B, thus always ending with theteslim. For some, theteslim is also the firsthane; therefore they have the structure: A/B+A/C+A/D+A.
Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey was a prominent peşrev composer. Other composers includeTamburi Cemil Bey, Gazi Giray Han,Dimitrie Cantemir and Dilhayat Kalfa.