Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey or Tamburi Büyük Osman Bey (1816–1885) was an Ottoman composer and

Turkish tambur The is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. There are two variants, one of which is played with a plectrum (''mızraplı tambur'') and the other with a bow ('' yaylı tambur''). The player is call ...

player. He is considered one of the most outstanding

peşrev ''Peşrev'' or Peshrev ( Turkish, "prelude"; pronounced ) is an instrumental form in Ottoman music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performance called a fasıl (). It also serves as the penultimate piece of the ' ...

compositors in

Ottoman classical music Ottoman music () or Turkish classical music (, or more recently ) is the tradition of Art music, classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally features a sol ...

Life

Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey was born in 1816 in the

Tophane Tophane () (lit. "Armoury") is a quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, running downhill from Galata to the shore of the Bosphorus where it joins up with Karaköy to the southwest and Fındıklı to the northeast. In the Ottoman ...

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 ...

. Most of the information we have on him originates from an oral tradition amongst his pupils and the pupils of those who knew him. His father, Zeki Mehmed Ağa as well as his grandfather Tanburi Numan Ağa were musicians of renown. At the age of eight, he was accepted to the Imperial School of Enderun, where he began his education among the foregoing masters of Turkish classical music, from whom he acquired a firm theoretical basis. His acquaintance with the

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowa ...

also dates back to those years. As his father Zeki Mehmed Ağa is said to have refused to pass on to his son his knowledge of the tambur, most of the work must have come to be incumbent on Osman Bey himself. He is also said to have participated in

fasıl The ''fasıl'' is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic '' nawba'' and '' waslah''. A classical ''fasıl'' generally includes movements such as '' taksim'', '' peşrev'', '' kâr'', '' beste'', ''ağır semâ'î'', '' ...

s with prominent vocal musicians of his time such as Rifat Bey and Haşim Bey, improving mostly his vocal technique. With the death of his father, he gave up singing and concentrated solely on his instrument and took part in " incesaz fasılları" performed at the court of Sultan Abdulaziz Han. He is said to have made most of his compositions at this period. As he was enthusiastic about Mevlana Djelaleddin Rumi, he frequented many

mevlevi The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (; ) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey (formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi ...

hanes, especially the Kulekapısı Mevlevihanesi on Fridays. He is also said to have had an obsessive temperament, known for attempting to beat a kanuni who played a false note while playing the transition to the final part of his uşşak

i.ÖZALP, Nazmi, ''Türk Mûsikîsi Tarihi'', Milli Eğitim Basımevi (MEB), Ankara : 2000 (2 volumes). r. ''History of Turkish Music'' by the Turkish Ministry of Education/ref> In 1885, he succumbed to a pulmonary disorder from which he had been suffering for a long time, and was buried in the cemetery of the Yahya Efendi Dergâhı in

. He had three sons and a daughter.

Compositions

As a composer, he excelled mostly in

s which make up an important part of the Ottoman classical repertoire. His style displays a certain minimalism, avoiding rapid changes from one uslub to the other, thus lightening the

form and conferring it with a balanced structure. Most of his peşrevs use devr-i kebir as a rhythmic basis and are easily distinguishable from the earlier works of his precedents. The only former

composer he is said to have cherished is Gazi Giray Han, whose "Hüzzam Peşrevi" he designated the as "sehl-i mümtenî", ("a simple work done with great skill", “piece of a jewel"). After having refused for a long time to compose a

in the same

maqam 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 clas ...

(hüzzam) for the musical rites of the Mevlevi order, he finally composed his own famous hüzzam peşrevi on the instigation of the sheikh of the Galata Mevlevi Monastery Atâullah Efendi. This piece is still widely heard during

Mevlevi The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (; ) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey (formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi ...

rites. Following is a list of extant compositions:

References

; Sources consulted ; Endnotes {{Authority control 1816 births 1885 deaths Turkish male classical composers 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Turkish tambur players 19th-century composers from the Ottoman Empire Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music 19th-century composers Male classical composers 19th-century male musicians