Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a compli ...

Turkish tambur The ''tambur'' (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the four in ...

, yaylı tambur,

kemençe Kemenche ( tr, kemençe) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black ...

, and

lavta The lavta is a plucked string music instrument from Istanbul. Description The Lavta has a small body made of many ribs made using carvel bending technique. Its appearance is somewhat like a small (Turkish) oud - the strings are made from gut l ...

virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in

Ottoman classical music Ottoman music ( tr, Osmanlı müziği) or Turkish classical music ( tr, Türk sanat müziği) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally ...

. His son,

Mesut Cemil Mesut Cemil (; b. 1902 – d. October 31, 1963) was a Turkish composer, and a notable ''tanbur'' lute and cello player. His father was Tanburi Cemil Bey. He participated in the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music. Cemil took cello and violin les ...

Bey, was an equally renowned

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

tambur virtuoso.

Biography

Cemil Bey was born in

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, ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in 1871 or 1873; his birth date is uncertain. He took his first lessons in music from Kanuni Ahmet Bey and the violin player Kemani Aleksan, his first instruments thus being the

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 ...

and the kanun. After completing middle school, he continued in a school for civil servants (''Mülkiye''), but then devoted himself to music and abandoned his education. He began to play the

quite early in his youth and by the age of 20, his renown had already spread among the tamburis of

. Reforming the traditional playing technique of the tambur, he developed an energetic technique based on a rich and agile picking style, lightening to a great extent the sonority of this instrument. Later on, he set about playing the Turkish classical kemençe and attained an astonishingly high level of technique, so much so that the virtuosity level of the Ottoman

vi of Greek origin Vasilaki (1845–1907), considered as then as "the reference", came to be thought of by certain amateurs to be outmatched. He was also the inventor of the Yaylı tambur. Cemil Bey was able to play any instrument he picked up: he played

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, yaylı tambur,

zurna The zurna (Armenian language, Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Classical Armenian, Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian language, Albanian: surle/surla; Persian language, Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian language, Macedonian: з ...

and several other instruments with equal virtuosity. His taksims and instrumental works he recorded on 78rpms with tanbur,

and yaylı tambur had considerable impact on generations of musicians following him. The

peşrev ''Peşrev'' (pronounced in Turkish), ''Pişrev'' (), ''peshrev,'' or ''pishrev;'' called ''bashraf'' بشرف in Arabic; is an instrumental form in Turkish classical music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performa ...

s and

sazsemai The ''saz semai'' (also spelled in Turkish as ''saz sema'i'', ''saz sema-i'', ''saz sema i'', ''saz semaī'', ''saz semâ'î'', ''sazsemai'', ''saz semaisi'', or ''sazsemaisi'' and in the Arab world as ''samâi'') is an instrumental form in Ot ...

s he composed are pieces of great taste, requiring a developed performance technique. According to close friend Mahmut Demirhan: He was a very sensitive and nervous person, who eventually suffered from alcoholism. Most of his compositions have been preserved in his recordings, but some of his works were incomplete when he died.

Compositions

* Bestenigâr Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Ferahfezâ Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Ferahfezâ Peşrev (Muhammes) * Hicâzkâr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Hicâzkâr Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Isfahân Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Isfahân Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Kürdîlihicâzkâr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Mâhûr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Mâhûr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Muhayyer Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Muhayyer Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Nevâ Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Şedarabân Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Şedarabân Peşrev (Fahte) * Sûz-i Dilarâ Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Nikrîz Zeybek (Aksak) * Nikrîz Longa (Nîm sofyân) * Kürdîlihicâzkâr Şarkı (Aksak) - Def-i Nalis Eylerim Hep Seyri Ruhsarınla Ben * Hüseynî Şarkı (Devr-i hindî) - Gormek Ister Gozlerim * Şehnâz Şarkı (Sengîn semâî) - Feryad Ki Feryadım * Nihâvend Şarkı (

Yürük semâî Yurukikos or Yurukiko () is a Greek instrumental dance from Agiasos, Lesbos, Greece, with a nine beat rhythm. The dance has many similarities with antikristos dance. The tune take its name from the Yörüks, the Turkish nomadic tribe. The dance c ...

) - Sevdim Seni Ey İşvebaz * Mâhûr Şarkı (Ağır Aksak semâî) - Var İken Zâtında Böyle Hüsn-ü An

Notes

References

* Who is who database
''Biography of Tanburi Cemil Bey''
* Turkmusikisi.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bey, Cemil 1873 births 1916 deaths Musicians from Istanbul Composers from the Ottoman Empire Turkish tambur players Turkish classical kemençe players Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music Musicians of Ottoman classical music Musicians of Turkish makam music