Yüksel Koptagel (born 27 October 1931) is a Turkish composer and pianist. She 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, ...

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 ...

, granddaughter of General

Osman Nuri Koptagel Osman Nuri Koptagel (1874; Erzincan – November 22, 1942; Ankara) was an officer of the Ottoman Army and a general of the Turkish Army. When he was an assistant teaching staff of the Ottoman Military Academy, he used to order ''"Sağdan birin ...

, a commander in the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. Her maternal great grandfather Abdul Karim Khan Tareen, a physician, had migrated from

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) and had settled in Istanbul, adopting the name Abdul Karim Bey. Koptagel studied music with the composer and conductor Cemal Resit Rey and later with

Alexander Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

José Cubiles José Antonio Cubiles Ramos (15 May 1894 5 April 1971) was a noted Spanish pianist, conductor and teacher. Biography Cubiles was born in Cádiz in 1894. His pianistic gifts were already apparent by the age of five. He first studied music theory ...

Tony Aubin Tony Louis Alexandre Aubin (8 December 1907 – 21 September 1981) was a French composer. Career Aubin was born in Paris. From 1925 to 1930, he studied at the Paris Conservatory under Samuel Rousseau (composer), Samuel Rousseau (music theory), ...

, Joaquin Rodrigo, and

Lazare Levy Lazare is the French and Georgian form of the given name Lazarus, which is itself derived from the Hebrew name Eleazar. It is also a surname. Lazare may refer to: Given name * Lazare de Baïf (1496–1547), French diplomat and humanist * Lazare ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. After completing her studies, Koptagel took a position with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and worked as a pianist and composer. She is considered to be the owner of the first classical guitar works composed in Turkey. In the 1960s (during the regime of Ayub Khan Tareen (no relation)) she visited Multan to trace her maternal roots and met the descendants of siblings of Abdul Karim Tareen.

Works

Selected works include: *''Quand nous nous sommes séparés'' (André Viaud after George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron) *''Pastorale'' for piano *''Impression de Minorque'' for piano *''Epitafio de un muchacho muerto en abril'' for piano *''Toccata'' for piano *''Fossil Suite'' (Suite im alten Stil) for piano or guitar *''Tamzara (Türkischer Tanz)'' for piano or guitar

References

1931 births Living people 20th-century classical composers Turkish women classical composers Turkish classical composers 20th-century women composers {{Women's-History-stub