Hasan Yükselir (born 1955,

Pazarcık Pazarcık is a town and district in the southern part of Kahramanmaraş Province in Turkey. The mayor Hayrettin Güngör from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was elected in the local elections 2019. Kaymakam is Adil Nas. The cement plan ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

) is a Turkish

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and composer, who predominantly performs Turkish folk songs (

Türkü Turkish folk music (''Türk Halk Müziği'') is the traditional music of Turkish people living in Turkey influenced by the cultures of Anatolia and former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under ...

Life

Hasan Yükselir was born in

. He spent his childhood and adolescence in

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...

. Hasan Yükselir obtained a Bachelor in music from the

Gazi University Gazi University ( tr, Gazi Üniversitesi) is a public university primarily located in Ankara, Turkey. It was established in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as Gazi Teacher Training Institute. In 1982, it was reorganized by merging with the Bolu ...

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 ...

and thereafter a Master's degree from the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography of Ankara University specializing in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. There, he received instruction in composition from Turgut Aldemir and singing classes from Sevim Çidamlı (soprano). In 1984 Hasan Yükselir took a position at Ankara National Theatre. In 1993, at the age of 38, he relocated to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and since that time works primarily out of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

. In 1981, his son Fırat Yükselir and in 1986 his daughter Dijle Yükselir were born. Both are well-known musicians in

Creative output and musical style

Hasan Yükselir predominantly composes and arranges traditional,

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n folk songs in both classical Western musical forms as well as in the idiom of jazz and interprets them with his classically trained voice. He performed in theatrical plays and in musicals, issued several musical albums, and composes film music for German and Turkish television, which includes the music for such films as Umut Sokağı (“Street of Hope”) by

Şerif Gören Şerif Gören ( el, Σερίφ Γκιορέν, Seríf Gkiorén, born 1944 in Xanthi, Greece) is a Turkish film director. Aside from important movies under his own signature, he is also the winner of the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") award in Cannes ...

and Uzun İnce bir Yol (“A Long, Narrow Road”) by

Tunç Başaran Tunç Başaran (October 1, 1938 – December 18, 2019) was a Turkish screenwriter, film director, film producer and actor. Biography After attending the Faculty of Literature for a while he left school and started working as a script writ ...

. The musical style of Hasan Yükselir was initially influenced by

Ruhi Su Mehmet Ruhi Su (1912 – 20 September 1985) was a Turkish opera singer, Turkish folk singer and saz virtuoso of probable Armenian

, who, like Hasan Yükselir, had a powerful bass-bariton voice, and whose life and creative output also features many parallels to that of Hasan Yükselir, starting from their singing studies at the same conservatory, their common interest in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

as an art musical form of expression, to their shared political views. The creative focus of Hasan Yükselir is the worldwide popularization of

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

and of the poetry of well-known Turkish mystics and poets such as

Yunus Emre Yunus Emre () also known as Derviş Yunus (Yunus the Dervish) (1238–1328) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره) was a Turkish folk poet and Islamic Sufi mystic who greatly influenced Turkish culture. His name, ''Yunus'', is the Muslim ...

and

Nazım Hikmet A nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of In ...

through the medium of the fine arts and by cooperating with qualified, highly educated artists having a long-term commitment to their creative vision. In particular, he considers art music and an academic musical education as two key factors in the cultural development of music. As such, he composed the „Concertino for Bağlamas & Orchester“ which was premiered in 1996 by the Cologne Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 followed the chamber opera „saw hands that bound roses in dark earth“ with poems by

, followed in 2002, after a 5 year research period, by the

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

„Sevda Ateşten Gömlek“ based on poems by

. In Germany, Hasan Yükselir’s interpretation of

n song (

) is often compared to the lieder of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

, and is often characterized by a confluence of motives from

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, epic song recitals,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

-pieces and jazz-like interludes. He performs in concerts and international song recitals on a European scale. Concerts in the

Kölner Philharmonie The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building assemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Cologn ...

(WDR), the Alten Oper Frankfurt as well as the

Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of the World's Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and so ...

in Berlin constitute important stepping stones in his musical career.'Müzikte Türk Yunan Köprüsü, Milliyet 06.2006
(Turkisch)

Discography

* 1992: ''Günler'' * 1993: ''Konserlerim'' * 1994: ''Ayrılık / Herkes Gibisin'' * 1998: ''Su Türküler'' * 2001: ''Göç Türküler'' * 2002: ''Sevda Ateşten Gömlek / Nazım Şarkıları'' * 2004: ''Ben Türküyüm'' * 2014: ''Yel / Saz'dan Caz'a''

References

External links

Website

In: ''Die Brücke.'' Heft 132, Jahrgang XXIII, Saarbrücken, April–Juni 2004
''Hasan Yükselir & Hiroko Nakano - WDR.''
YouTube Video
''"Yunus'tan Nazım'a" Kantat- Hasan Yükselir & Fırat Yükselir - Evvel Benem, Ahir Benem - ''
YouTube Video
''Tahir_ile_Zühre_-_Gedicht:Nâzım_Hikmet
-_TRT''.html" ;"title="Nâzım Hikmet">''Tahir ile Zühre - Gedicht:Nâzım Hikmet
- TRT''">Nâzım Hikmet">''Tahir ile Zühre - Gedicht:Nâzım Hikmet
- TRT''YouTube Video
Fırat Yükselir Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yukselir, Hasan 1955 births Living people People from Pazarcık Gazi University alumni Turkish male singers Turkish composers