Makam Evcârâ
Evcârâ is a compound makam that combines Segâh and Hicaz elements. It belongs to the historically documented but infrequently performed category of makams — present in the theoretical literature but with limited modern repertoire.
Structure
Attested Evcârâ is described as combining:
- Lower region: Segâh-family intervals
- Upper region: Hicaz tetrachord
- Karar: Rast
- Güçlü: Evc (hence the name)
- Seyir: Çıkıcı (ascending)
Uncertain The exact çeşni combination varies between sources. Özkan's description and Signell's do not always align on the specifics, reflecting the general difficulty of pinning down makams that have limited performing tradition to serve as a living reference.
The name
Attested The name Evcârâ derives from the perde Evc (also spelled Evç or Evdj), a pitch position in the upper register of the makam system. The suffix -ârâ appears in several makam names and suggests an ornamental or elaborated relationship to the root pitch.
Historical significance
Practice Evcârâ is primarily significant as a demonstration of the makam system's theoretical ambition. The system does not just catalogue commonly performed modes — it systematically documents every valid çeşni combination, names it, and assigns it a seyir character. Many of these combinations produced no lasting repertoire, but their existence in the catalogue reveals the system's combinatorial logic.
Where to go from here
A component makam: Segâh. Another component: Hicaz. Classification: Simple, Transposed, and Compound Makams.
Sources
- İsmail Hakkı Özkan, Türk Musikisi Nazariyatı ve Usulleri (Ötüken, 2006)Textbook / peer-reviewed
- Karl Signell, Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music (Asian Music Publications, 1977)Textbook / peer-reviewed
External Resources
Between Frets is not affiliated with or sponsored by any of the resources listed below. Links are provided for educational purposes only.
- Exploring Makam MusicEstablished
YouTube series analyzing Ottoman/Turkish classical music with individual makam explorations.
The series builds understanding of component cesni that combine to form Evcara, a compound makam whose identity depends on understanding its building blocks.
- Classical Turkish Instrumental MusicEstablished
419-track playlist of instrumental Turkish classical music spanning many makams.
Evcara appears less frequently than foundational makams, making curated playlists valuable for finding performances in this rarer compound form.
- DivanMakamEstablished
Interactive encyclopedia for classical Turkish music with searchable score and recording archives.
The archive is particularly valuable for rare makams like Evcara, where finding composed examples requires dedicated search.
Related Articles
- Turkish MakamSegâh Makamı: The Makam of the Neutral ThirdA guide to Segâh, a Turkish makam whose karar rests on a neutral pitch — its microtonal structure in Holdrian commas, Sufi associations, and relationship to Persian Dastgâh-e Segâh.
- Turkish MakamHicaz Makamı: The Augmented Second and the Sound of the Eastern MediterraneanA guide to Hicaz, the archetypal 'Middle Eastern' makam — its characteristic augmented second, cesni construction, seyir, the four-makam Hicaz family, and its relationship to Arabic Maqam Hijaz.
- Turkish MakamSimple, Transposed, and Compound MakamsHow Turkish makam theory classifies its hundreds of makams into three structural categories — basit, şed, and bileşik — and why the distinction matters for learning the system.