Necdet Yaşar (; 1930 - October 24, 2017) was a
Turkish ''tanbur'' lute player and teacher. A founding member of the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble, he performed throughout the world as a cultural ambassador for Turkey and taught twice at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
(USA).
[UW dept. of ethnomusicology, "Visiting Artists by Country"](_blank)
at Washington.edu In 1991, the Turkish government awarded him the title of "
National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as the highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation.
An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the ...
".
Overview
In 1930, Necdet Yaşar was born into a Turkish family in
Nizip, a small town near
Gaziantep
Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...
, Turkey. He graduated from the School of Economics, Istanbul University.
[Aksoy 2005, op. cit.]
Professor Robert Garfias, Director of the Ethnomusicology Program at the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington State, USA)--on the recommendation of graduate student Karl Signell—appointed Yaşar as Visiting Artist for 1972–73 academic year
ignell 1977, p. xv Garfias again appointed Yaşar, together with the noted ney master Niyazi Sayın as University of Washington Visiting Artists for 1980-8
UW dept. of ethnomusicology, "Visiting Artists by Country"
While in residence at the University of Washington, Yaşar gave lectures on the ''makam'' system of Ottoman classical music.
In 1972, Yaşar and Signell attended the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) where Yaşar in effect introduced the largely unknown Turkish Classical Music to ethnomusicologists by talking and performing on the tanbur
anburi Necdet Yaşar: Anılar—Dostlar. New York: Brainstorm, 2009, p. 263.
In 1988, Yaşar was a founding member of the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble. He directed it until 1995 when he retired.
In 1991, the Turkish government awarded him the title of "National Artist" (''Devlet Sanatçısı'').
[1991 Turkish State Artist Honors ''(1991 Yılında Seçilen Devlet Sanatçıları)'']
at Kultur.gov.tr
In small and large ensembles, including his own "The Necdet Yasar Ensemble", he has performed throughout the world, in Europe, East Asia, and North America, as a concert artist and ambassador of Turkish classical music.
Yaşar is noted for his command of the Turkish ''
makam
Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to:
Musical structures
* Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music
** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq
* Persian maqam, a notion in Persian class ...
'' melodic modes, his influential ''tanbur'' techniques, and the construction of his ''taksim'' improvisations;
as described by ''
fRoots
''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...
'' magazine, "Yaşar's technical mastery is absolute, in particular his use of the range of plectrum techniques that is at the heart of tanbur playing. However, as a musician, what most distinguishes him is his unparalleled knowledge of and insight into the Turkish classical repertoire and the improvisational possibilities presented by its modal system. Yasar is one of those few artists who are both guided by and themselves guide tradition."
[William 2005, op. cit.] He "belongs to a musical lineage going back to at least
Tanburi Cemil Bey
Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman tanbur, Turkish tambur, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) g ...
",
and continued with
Mesut Cemil
Mesut Cemil (; 1902 – October 31, 1963) was a Turkish composer, and a notable ''tanbur'' lute and cello player. His father was Tanburi Cemil Bey.
He participated in the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music.
Cemil took cello and violin lessons ...
, of whom he was the principal student.
[Aksoy 2002, op. cit.] His ''taksimler'' solo improvisations and his dual improvisations (''beraber taksimleri'') with ''
ney'' flutist
Niyazi Sayın
Niyazi Sayın (; born 1927) is a Turkish '' ney'' flautist and music educator. For a long time, he has performed duets with ''tanbur'' lute player Necdet Yaşar. He is regarded as the most important ''ney'' player in Turkish classical music.
...
are noted for their sensitivity.
Experts cite two particular facets amongst all of his skills that make him amongst the most important musicians of his time and culture: (1) his understanding of melodic movement (called in Turkish
seyir within the complex musical modes (that are called in Turkish
makam
Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to:
Musical structures
* Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music
** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq
* Persian maqam, a notion in Persian class ...
) that form the basis of traditional Turkish classical art music; he has even been called the "living embodiment of seyir today",
[ Music of the Ottoman Court", by Walter Feldman, published in 1996 by Verlag fur Wissenschaft und Bildung/ref> and (2) his understanding (and taste) of how to employ the complex pitch-interval structure of Turkish classical music to a particular musical mode (]makam
Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to:
Musical structures
* Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music
** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq
* Persian maqam, a notion in Persian class ...
) and piece; there is a theoretical definition of the musical pitch intervals used in this music, but there is wide acknowledgment amongst expert practitioners that good practice is not always in agreement with the theory, and Yaşar was widely consulted by even the most expert musicians about correct practice.[“The Art of Master Musician Necdet Yaşar as a Key to the Subtleties of Classical Turkish Music,” Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music, Musicians and History - Essays in Honour of Robert Garfias. Ashgate.]
Yaşar died in Istanbul on October 24, 2017.
References
; Sources consulted
*
*
* Signell, Karl. 2011. “The Art of Master Musician Necdet Yaşar as a Key to the Subtleties of Classical Turkish Music,” Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music, Musicians and History - Essays in Honour of Robert Garfias. Ashgate.
*
; Endnotes
External links
Audio sample: short ''taksim'' improvisation, Makam Mahur
(1:25 min, MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...
format, 332 kB)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasar, Necdet
1930 births
2017 deaths
Musicians from Gaziantep
Turkish tambur players
Turkish musicians
Composers of Ottoman classical music
Composers of Turkish makam music
Musicians of Ottoman classical music
Musicians of Turkish makam music
Istanbul University alumni