Cemal Reşit Rey (; 25 October 1904 – 7 October 1985) was a Turkish

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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, script writer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He was well known for a string of successful and popular Turkish-language

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s for which his brother Ekrem Reşit Rey (1900–1959) wrote the librettos. He was born on 25 October 1904 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and died on 7 October 1985 in

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 ...

. He was one of the five pioneers of Western classical music in

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 ...

known as ' The Turkish Five' in the first half of the 20th century. Notable students include Yüksel Koptagel, a Turkish composer and pianist.

Works

Operas * La Geisha (adapted from Sydney Jones) * Yann (Jann) Marek (1920)(Libretto by Xavier Fromentin) * Faire sans dire (1920)(Libretto by Alfred de Musset) * Sultan Cem (1922–23)(Libretto by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * L'Enchantement (1924)(Libretto by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Zeybek("Zeibek") (1926)(Libretto by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Köyde Bir Facia (a Tragedy in the Village) (1929)(Libretto by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Çelebi (1942–73)(Libretto by Ekrem Reşid Rey) Operettas * Le Petit Chaperon rouge (1920) * Üç Saat (Three Hours, 1932)(poems by Nazım Hikmet) * Lüküs Hayat ( The Luxurious Life, 1933)(Text by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Deli Dolu (Alive and Kicking, 1934) * Saz Caz (1935)(Text by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Maskara (1936)(Text by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Hava Cıva (1937)(Text by Ekrem Reşid Rey) * Yaygara 70 (1969–70)(Play by Erol Günaydın) * Uy! Balon Dünya (1971)(Play by Erol Günaydın) * Bir İstanbul Masalı (1972)(Play by Erol Günaydın) Musical revues * Adalar Revüsü (1934) * Alabanda (1941) * Aldırma (1942) For theatre, film and radio * Özyurt (prologue for soloist, chorus and orchestra) * For Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' * For Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' * For Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' · For Shakespeare's "Tempest" * Lafonten Baba (children's play with music and dance) * Bataklı Damın Kızı Aysel (film) * Benli Hürmüz (Radio) Orchestral works * ''La Legende du Bebek'' (symphonic poem) * ''Scènes turques'' * ''Karagöz'' * ''Paysages de soleil'' * ''Instantanes'' (impressions for orchestra) * ''Initiation'' (symphonic poem) * Symphony No. 1 * ''L'Appel'' (symphonic poem) * ''Fatih (Le Conquérant)'' (symphonic poem) * ''Scherzi symphoniques'' * Symphonic Concerto * Symphony No. 2 * ''Türkiye'' (symphonic poem) (1971) * ''Ellinci Yıla Giriş'' (symphonic poem commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Turkish Republic) Concertos and concertantes * "Introduction et Dance" for cello and orchestra * "Concerto Chromatique" for piano and orchestra * Poème for Ondes Martenot (or flute) and strings * Violin Concerto * "Pieces Concertantes" for Violoncello and Orchestra (dedicated to Pierre Fournier) * Variations on an Old Istanbul Folk Song (Katibim) for piano and orchestra (dedicated to Samson François) * "Andante et Allegro" for violin solo and string orchestra (dedicated to

Suna Kan Suna Kan (21 October 1936 – 11 June 2023) was a Turkish violinist who studied in France and appeared internationally. She was a soloist and concert master of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra for 44 years. She was professor of violin at th ...

) * Guitar Concerto (dedicated to Alirio Diaz) * Concerto for piano and orchestra Voice and orchestra * Chants d'Anatolie (four songs, 1926) * Two Songs (1930) * Two Anatolian Folk Songs (1930) * Mystique (Tenor and Orchestra) (1938) * Vocalise–Fantaisie (1975, dedicated to Suna Korad) * Three Anatolian Folk Songs (1977) * Arrangements of Schubert, Brahms, Scarlatti, Paisiello for voice and strings Choral works * Çayır İnce (four-voice a capella) * Two Pieces on Poems by Yunus Emre * Anatolian Folk Songs (1926) * Ten Folk Songs (four-voice chorus and piano, 1963) * Two Songs (a capella women's chorus, 1936) Voice and piano * Je me demande (1919) * Three Melodies (1920) * Initiales sur un banc (1921) * Chanson du printemps (1922) * Au jardin (1923) * L'Offrande lyrique (eight melodies, 1923) * Nocturne (1925) * Twelve Anatolian Folk Songs (1926) * Folk Songs (1928) * Twelve Melodies (1929) * Vatan (1930) * Four Melodies (1956) * Paris Sokakları("Le Pecheur de Pergame")(Streets of Paris, 1981) Chamber Music * Impressions of Anatolia for violin and piano * Piece for woodwind quintet * String Quartet * Short Piece for violin and piano * Piano Quartet * Sextet (piano, voice and string quartet) * Instrumental Dialogue (flute, harp, 2 horns and string quartet) Solo Piano * Waltz (1912) * Sonata (1924) * Sarı Zeybek (1926) * Scènes turques (1928) * Souvenirs d'automne (?) * Sonatina (1928) * Paysages de soleil (1930–31) * Sonata (1936) * Pélerinages dans la ville qui n'est plus que souvenir (1940–41) * Fantaisie (1948) * Two Pieces (1959) * Ten Folk Songs (1967) * Improvisation (1983) Music for Two Pianos 12 Preludes and Fugues (1968) Marches * Himaye-i Etfalin (Children's Protection March) (Tenth Anniversary March of the Republic, 1933) * Navy March (1935) * Yedeksubay Marşı (1940) * Atatürk's 100th Birthday March (1981)

Legacy

Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul is named after him.

References

Notes 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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Cemal Resit 1904 births 1985 deaths The Turkish Five State Artists of Turkey 20th-century Turkish classical composers Turkish male classical composers Turkish opera composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Turkish male musicians