Münir Nurettin Selçuk (1900 or 1901 – April 27, 1981) was a Turkish classical musician and

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

singer.

Biography

He was born in the

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

district of

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 ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1900 or 1901. His uncle was

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire The grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire ( or ''Sadr-ı Azam'' (''Sadrazam''); Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: or ) was the ''de facto'' prime minister of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sultan in the Ottoman Empire, with the absolute p ...

, Abdurrahman Nurettin Pasha. As a youth, Selçuk studied in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

before returning to

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 ...

and becoming a musician. In 1927, he travelled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for a musical education, then began working for the Istanbul Conservatory in 1953. He was the director of the Conservatory for a total of sixteen years. Selçuk spent some time singing in stage

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. One of Selçuk's most important legacies was the establishment of the position of lead singer in Turkish music. He died on April 27, 1981, and was buried at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery. He had two sons, both of whom followed his footsteps into music, pianist composer

Timur Selçuk Timur Selçuk (2 July 1946 – 6 November 2020) was a Turkish composer, pianist, singer and conductor. Biography One of the greatest Turkish composers, Timur Selçuk was the son of Turkish neo-classical music composer Münir Nurettin Selçu ...

, and jazz drummer composer Selim Selçuk.

Works

He appeared in the films "Üçüncü Selim'in Gözdesi" (1950), "Hasret" (1944), "Kahveci Güzeli" (1941), "Allah'ın Cenneti" (1939), and " Laila" (1927), as well as composing for three films.

References

* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Münir Nurettin Selçuk''

External links

* 1900s births 1981 deaths People from Sarıyer Turkish classical composers Turkish classical singers 20th-century Turkish male singers Turkish male film actors Musicians from Istanbul Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music Musicians of Ottoman classical music Musicians of Turkish makam music 20th-century Turkish male actors 20th-century Turkish classical musicians 20th-century Turkish composers Male classical composers Turkish tambur players {{Turkey-singer-stub