The Turkish Five ( tr, Türk Beşleri) is a name used by some authors to identify five pioneers of
western classical music in Turkey.
[İlyasoğlu (1998), 14.] They were all born in the first decade of the 20th century and composed their best music in the early years of the
Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, especially during the presidencies of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
and
İsmet İnönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three time ...
. They all shared contacts with the two presidents and were highly encouraged as such, both on a personal level and also through the general drive towards westernization in Turkey.
The Turkish Five composers are:
*
Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music.
One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a mast ...
*
Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin () (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904–1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction ...
*
Cemal Reşit Rey
Cemal Reşit Rey (; 25 October 1904 – 7 October 1985) was a Turkish composer, pianist, script writer and conductor. He was well known for a string of successful and popular Turkish-language operettas for which his brother Ekrem Reşit Rey (1 ...
*
Hasan Ferit Alnar
Hasan Ferid Alnar (11 March 1906 – 30 July 1978) was a Turkish classical music composer.
He was a member of the Turkish Five, in the first half of the 20th century. Alnar is known for his efforts for harmonization of classical Turkish music ...
*
Necil Kazım Akses
Necil Kazım Akses (May 6, 1908 – February 16, 1999) was a Turkish classical composer.
Life
Akses studied music and composition at the Musikakademie in Vienna with Joseph Marx and at the Prague Conservatory in Prague with Josef Suk an ...
These composers set out the direction of classic music in the newly established Turkish Republic. The use of Turkish folk music and traditional/modal elements in an entirely western symphonic style characterised the music of these composers.
[Helvaci (2012), ''passim''.]
References
Notes
Sources
* Helvaci, Ayhan (2012)
"Contemporary Turkish Composers – Turkish Five" ''Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences'', 46, pp. 2630–34.
* İlyasoğlu, Evin (1998). ''Çağdaş Türk bestecileri''
ontemporary Turkish Composers Pan Yayıncılık 49. Beşiktaş, İstanbul: Pan Yayıncılık. .
Further Reading
* Aydin, Yilmaz (2002). ''Die Werke der 'Türkischen Fünf' im Lichte der Musikalischen Wechselbeziehungen zwischen der Türkei und Europa.'' Europäische Hochshculschriften, Peter Lang Publisher.
External links
Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Official Web SiteNecil Kazım Akses, Official Web Site
*
Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. I
' on SheetMusicPlus.com
*
Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. II
' on SheetMusicPlus.com
*
Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. III
' on SheetMusicPlus.com
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