Structure and Evolution of the Mevlevi Ayin: The Case of the Third Selam

Probably somewhat earlier than the appearance of the courtly fasil, the Mevlevî dervishes had developed a liturgy employing a cyclical concert format. While sharing a general function with the semâ‘ of medieval Sufis and the general cyclical (suite) principle and a few items with the Ottoman courtly fasil, the Mevlevî âyîn has developed into a musical structure of such originality that it must be discussed as a sui generis phenomenon.