Hasan Yükselir (born 1955,

Pazarcık Pazarcık () is a municipality and district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,253 km2, and its population is 70,173 (2022). It is in the southeastern part of the province. The cement plant is a major source of greenhouse ga ...

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 ...

) is a Turkish

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

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 def ...

, who predominantly performs Turkish folk songs (

Türkü Turkish folk music () 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 one umbrella. It includ ...

Life

Hasan Yükselir was born in

. He spent his childhood and adolescence in

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

. Hasan Yükselir obtained a Bachelor in music from the

Gazi University Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and thereafter a Master's degree from the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography of

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

specializing in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and since that time works primarily out of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 (), 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 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 Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, 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 (, 1 July 1944 – 8 December 2024) was a Turkish film director. Aside from important films under his own signature, he was also the winner of the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") award in Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for the film '' Yol ...

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

Tunç Başaran Tunç Başaran (October 1, 1938 – December 18, 2019) was a Turkish people, 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 ...

.Türkü - Ein Gespräch mit Hasan Yükselir, Die Brücke, Jahrgang XXIII, Heft 132, Apr-Jun 2004/2
(Deutsch) 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 music, Turkish folk singer and baglama, saz virtuoso of probable Armenians, 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 History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

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 performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and of the poetry of well-known Turkish

mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

and

poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

such as

Yunus Emre Yunus Emre (), also known as Derviş Yûnus (Yûnus the Dervish) (1238–1320) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره), was a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who greatly influenced Turkish culture. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passe ...

and

Nazım Hikmet A nazim is the coordinator of a city or town in Pakistan. Nazim or variant spellings may also refer to: * Nazim (given name), including a list of people with the given name ** Nirmala Devi, born Nazim, Indian actress and singer * Nazim (surname), ...

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 Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a Chamber music, chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas ...

„saw hands that bound roses in dark earth“ with poems by

,Staunen über Mystik des Islam, Kölner Rundschau, Nummer 232, 7. Oktober 1997
(Deutsch) followed in 2002, after a 5 year research period, by the

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

„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 period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, and is often characterized by a confluence of motives from

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

song recitals,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-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 ensemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Köln ...

(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 World 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 societi ...

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''
YouTube Video
Fırat Yükselir Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yukselir, Hasan 1955 births Living people People from Pazarcık Gazi University alumni Turkish male singers Turkish composers