Ali Ekber Çiçek (1935 – 26 April 2006) was a Turkish folk musician. Çiçek was born in 1935, in

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

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 ...

. His father died in the Erzincan Earthquake and thus Çiçek worked as a farmer at a young age. Financial problems limited him to an elementary school education. Nevertheless, he attended

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

gatherings called

cem Cem Sultan (1459–1495) was a prince of the Ottoman Empire. Cem or CEM may also refer to: Colleges * College of Eastern Medicine, a branch of Southern California University of Health Sciences, in Los Angeles, California, US * College of Eme ...

, where he became familiar with both playing

bağlama The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...

and the philosophy of

Alevism Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differ ...

. He moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

with his aunt at age 9 and made acquaintance with popular folk musicians. He was on a TV programme called 'Yurttan Sesler' in his first years of adolescence. After completing mandatory military service, he worked at the state-operated radio broadcast TRT service in

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 ( ...

, where he lived until his retirement. In 2003, TRT filmed a documentary about his life and his music, called ''Cahilden Uzak Dur, Kemale Yakın'' (Stay close to the cultivated, away from the ignorant). The documentary was intended to propagate his work and presents them as a part of the Anatolian folk tradition. Throughout his professional career, Ali Ekber Çiçek compiled more than 400 Turkish folk songs and made them known publicly. "Haydar Haydar", which took him approximately three years to master, is one of his most noted songs. The song is often considered the pinnacle of symphonic Turkish folk music. Markoff says of this composition that Çiçek "was one of the first to engage in compositional activity while experimenting with new approaches to the refashioning of indigenous repertory. In 1965, he created the brilliant composition for voice and baglama, "Haydar." Inspired by mystical poetry of the 18th century, "Haydar" exemplifies Çiçek's efforts to communicate spiritual values through music." He was married to Turkish folk music singer Cemile Cevher Çiçek for 8 years, but the marriage ended in divorce.

References

1935 births 2006 deaths Turkish Alevis 20th-century Turkish folk musicians 21st-century Turkish folk musicians {{Turkey-musician-stub