Tello or Aman Tello is a folk song and dance from the South Caucasian and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n regions. The earliest known recording of the song was a 1912 Azerbaijani

mugham Mugham () or Mughamat () is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is an art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. ...

composition. There are also Turkish versions of the song. It was popular from the 20th century onwards in the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities.

History

Name

Tello is a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

form of the female name ''Telli'', found in both Azerbaijani and Turkish cultures. The name Telli derives from the word

tel TEL or Tel may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer * TE Connectivity, a technology company, NYSE stock ticker TEL * The European Library, an Internet service Place names * Tel, Azerbaij ...

, meaning "strand (of hair)", and the Turkic suffix -li, which means "with", together metaphorically meaning "the one with long hair". Aman, on the other hand, is an

interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling, situation or reaction. It is a diverse category, with many different types, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curses (''da ...

burrowed from

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, commonly used to express urgency, sorrow or a heartfelt plea - typical of emotional expression in the Caucasian and Anatolian folk music. Therefore, the phrase "Aman Tello" essentially means "Oh Tello", centering around a girl who is admired or longed for.

Composition

The folk song has origins in the

Southern Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

(most prominently present-day

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

) and in the

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

region of present-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. While the original composer is unknown, there is evidence that the song was known to Azerbaijani and Turkish musicians and composers by the 20th century. The earliest known recording of the song was made in 1912 by an Azerbaijani

khananda A khananda ( ; ; alternative spellings in English: khanende, khanande, khanandeh) is a name generally given to singers of mugham, an Culture of Azerbaijan, Azeri folk music genre. The word is of Persian origin and means "singer". When performin ...

ensemble that included renowned folk singers such as

Jabbar Garyaghdioglu Jabbar Garyagdioglu or Garyaghdyoglu ( pronounced ) (31 March 1861 – 20 April 1944) was an Azerbaijani folk singer (khananda). He is known as the first khananda to perform mughamats in the Azeri language. He mostly sang in Azerbaijani and Per ...

Kechachioghlu Muhammed Kechachioghlu Muhammed (, 18 June 1864 — 20 November 1940) was an Azerbaijani khananda. Biography Kechachioghlu was born in 1864 in Shusha. He played a special role in the development of the musical culture of Azerbaijan. He learned the art of ...

, Mashadi Mammad Farzaliyev, and others, when their performances of

tasnif ''Tasnif'' () is one of the several forms of Persian music and can be considered as the Persian equivalent of the ballad. It is a composed song in a slow metre. As is true of other forms of musical composition, most ''tasnifs'' are of relatively ...

, and folk songs, including ''Aman Tello'', were recorded on the gramophone record by the "Sport-Record" during their visit to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In Turkey, versions of the song appear under different names, most notably "Tello Gider Yan Gider". The earliest documented Turkish version was collected in the 1970s from a local source in the

Aşkale Aşkale is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,507 km2, and its population is 21,494 (2022). The mayor is Şenor Polat (AKP). The majority of the district is populated by Turks and a small minority by Kurd ...

district of

Erzurum Province Erzurum Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its area is 25,006 km2, and its population is 749,754 (2022). The capital of the province is the city of Erzurum. It is the fourth lar ...

by Musa Atıcı, and was later transcribed by Muharrem Akkuş. The earliest known recording of this version is the 1977 song "Tello Gider" by Aşık Fadime and Aşık Hasan.

References

{{Reflist Azerbaijani songs Songs in Azerbaijani Music of Azerbaijan