Attila Özdemiroğlu (5 January 1943 – 20 April 2016) was a Turkish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. He was best known for his award winning

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s in the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Born on 5 January 1943 in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Özdemiroğlu got interested in playing music already in his early years. At his age of eight, he took private lessons on

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. Learning to play many music instruments such as

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, he participated at music events during his high school and university years. In 1966, he moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and joined the music band "Durul Gence 5". Later, Özdemiroğlu played in several other music groups and also for Turkish

pop star A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

s like

Ajda Pekkan Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. ...

, Nilüfer,

Kayahan Kayahan Açar (29 March 1949 – 3 April 2015) was a Turkish pop music singer-songwriter. He was an accomplished composer, consistently ranking among the best-selling Turkish musicians of all time. Kayahan composed all of his own material and ...

and

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "''Minik Serçe''" ("Little Spar ...

. One of his compositions, ''Pet'r Oil'', was selected for Turkey's entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, and was organised by host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) – which agreed to stage the event a ...

, where he conducted the orchestra himself. Özdemiroğlu was awarded five times for his film scores at the

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival ( tr, Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festivali), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most impor ...

and twice at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival. Outside of his career as a musician, Attila was one of the co-founders of Anadolu.net the first Internet Service Provider in Turkey together with Riza Nur Pacalioglu and Tony Yustein.

Personal life

Attila Özdemiroğlu married four times. He made his first marriage with Ayla at his age of 19. From this marriage that lasted eleven years, he has a daughter,

Yaprak Özdemiroğlu Yaprak Özdemiroğlu (born 14 August 1963) is a Turkish actress, and ballet dancer. Career Daughter of Attila Özdemiroğlu, a film score composer and arranger, Özdemiroğlu was born in Ankara, the Turkish capital. She studied ballet techniq ...

, who became a film actress, and a son, Sarp Özdemiroğlu, who is also a composer and arranger. His marriage with

Füsun Önal Füsun Önal (born 11 March 1947, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish pop singer, theatre actress, and writer. Biography Önal's father was a soldier in the Turkish army; her mother was a housewife. Füsun grew up in Ankara. During her c ...

, a renowned pop singer, ended after only 1.5 years. He married then

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

Lale Mansur Lale Mansur (née Yurdatapan; born 1956) is a Turkish actress. She has appeared in more than twenty films since 1988. Selected filmography References External links * 1956 births Living people Turkish former Muslims Turkish agnos ...

, now film actress. After six years with her, he became an item with

Müjde Ar Kamile Suat Ebrem (born 21 June 1954), better known as Müjde Ar, is a Turkish film actress.

, a famous film actress, which lasted 15 years. From 1995 until his death, he was married to Hepgül Hepbir. Attila Özdemiroğlu and his wife, who was 31 years his junior, had twin daughters, Lara and Lidya. Özdemiroğlu died at age 73 on 20 April 2016 in Istanbul. He was suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

, and was hospitalized due to an injury resulting from a fall at home. He was interred in the

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Mezarlığı) is a modern burial ground residing on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of polit ...

following the religious service at

Levent Mosque Levent is a neighbourhood and one of the main business districts of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It is a part of the municipality of Beşiktaş and is situated to the north of the Golden Horn, at the western s ...

Incidental music works

Özdemiroğlu created the following

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

works: ;Musical theatre * ''Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz'' * ''Beyoğlu, Beyoğlu'' (1984) * ''Fosforlu Cevriye'' (2008) ;Film * ''Adı Vasfiye'' (1985) * '' Züğürt Ağa'' (1985) * ''Afife Jale'' (1987) * ''Muhsin Bey'' (1987) * '' Gece Yolculuğu'' (1988) * ''Kaçamak'' (1988) * ''Arabesk'' (1989) * ''Aşk Filmlerinin Unutulmaz Yönetmeni'' (1990) * ''Robert's Movie'' (1991) * '' Akrebin Yolculuğu'' (1997) * ''Ağır Roman'' (1997) * ''Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar'' (2003) * ''Kalbin Zamanı'' (2004) * ''Kilit'' (2007)

Turkey's selection for Eurovision Song Contest

His following songs were selected to contest for Turkey at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

: * 1975 ''Delisin'' by Cici Kızlar (third place in the selections) * 1975 ''Minik Kuş'' by

(with

Çiğdem Talu Çiğdem Talu (October 31, 1939 – May 28, 1983) was a Turkish pop music lyricist. The writer Ercüment Ekrem Talu was her grandfather. Çiğdem wrote her first song "''Ağlıyorum Yine''", which was sung by Nilüfer and released on her sing ...

) * 1975 ''Çiçekler'' by Zerrin Yaşar (with Zerrin Yaşar) * 1978 ''İnsanız Biz'' by Grup Sekstet (second place in the selections - with Şanar Yurdatapan) * 1980 ''

Pet'r Oil Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. The country was represented by Ajda Pekkan with the song "Pet'r Oil" written by Şanar Yurdatapan and composed by Attila Özdemiroğlu. Before Eurovision 4. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması T ...

'' by

(Turkey's entry - with Şanar Yurdatapan) * 1983 ''Atlantis'' by

Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra (Five Years Ago, Ten Years Later) was a Turkish band of the 1980s. They represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 with the song ''Halay'' and reached 12th position and 37 points. The members of the band ...

(with

Aysel Gürel Gönül Aysel Gürel (7 February 1929 – 17 February 2008) was a Turkish lyricist and actress. Besides her lyrics, which were performed by singers throughout Turkey, she was known for her outlandish clothing, make up and wigs. Biography Ays ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozdemiroglu, Attila 1943 births Musicians from Ankara Turkish composers Turkish film score composers Best Music Score Golden Orange Award winners Best Music Score Golden Boll Award winners Turkish music arrangers 2016 deaths Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery