Tülay German (born 27 January 1935), also known as Toulaï, is a Turkish singer, currently living in France. She is known for her modern interpretations of

Turkish folk music Turkish folk music () is the traditional music of Turkish people living in Turkey influenced by the cultures of Anatolia and former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under one umbrella. It includ ...

Early years

Tülay German was born 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 ...

in 1935; she was the only child of her father, a civil servant, and her mother, a housewife. She began singing

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

at the age of four and during her primary school years performed

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's '' Ständchen'' (aka ''Serenade'') and '' Abends unter der Linde'' on radio. Belkıs Aran, a well-known soprano of that time, secretly took the young Tülay to a German music teacher, who declared her an exceptional vocal talent. Although she did study piano formally for five years with Ferdi Statzer, her parents did not wish to send her to conservatory; instead she attended Üsküdar American Academy in İstanbul, from which she graduated in 1956.

Career

In Turkey

When her father's professional duties brought the family to

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 ( ...

for brief periods, German wanted to go sing in night clubs there. Although her father refused to allow this, German would secretly slip out while her father was sleeping and began to regularly perform English and Spanish songs at a night club. Eventually, when German was 25 years old, a friend of her father discovered her singing in the night club and told her father of it, after which he immediately sent German away to Istanbul. Eventually, in Istanbul, German obtained her father's consent to pursue a musical career, and between 1960 and 1962, she made a name for herself as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer and began performing on weekly programs featuring the Salim Ağırbaş Quintet on Radio Istanbul. During this time she met her life partner Erdem Buri, a jazz performer and band leader who had achieved prominence in the 1940s, and had then become known for his radio talk shows on jazz in the 1950s. Buri encouraged German to sing folk songs in Turkish instead of foreign language songs, and she began performing on his radio program "Polyphonic Turkish Popular Music" (), helping to build a new repertory of works by renowned folk musicians and poets such as

Ruhi Su Mehmet Ruhi Su (1912 – 20 September 1985) was a Turkish opera singer, Turkish folk music, Turkish folk singer and baglama, saz virtuoso of probable Armenians, Armenian

Melih Cevdet Anday Melih Cevdet Anday (13 March 1915 – 28 November 2002) was a Turkish people, Turkish writer whose poetry stands outside the traditional literary movements. He also wrote in many other genres which, over six and a half decades, included eleven ...

and

Yalçın Tura Yalçın or Yalcin is a given name and a surname of Turkic origin. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Yalchin Rzazadeh (born 1969), a Soviet-period Azerbaijani pop singer * Yalçın Akdoğan (born 1969), Turkish politician * Yal� ...

. Having been named "Best Singer" by the critics for her performance at the 1964 Balkan Melodies Festival held in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, German earned an appearance on the cover of the magazine "''Arena''". At this time, she released her single '' Burçak Tarlası'', widely acknowledged to be one of the first hits of

Turkish pop music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music ...

Emigration to France

In 1966, Buri was threatened with a 15-year prison sentence, ostensibly for having made Turkish translations of Georg W.F. Hegel's ''Dialectic'' and ''Science of Logic'', works considered subversive in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

climate of the time. Fleeing political repression, Buri and German emigrated to France, settling permanently in

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 ...

. Embarking on a new phase of her career as an expatriate artist, German adopted the French stage name "Toulaï". She recorded ten singles in French, gave numerous solo concerts, as well as appearing alongside renowned artists such as

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

and

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

. She also hosted radio and television programs in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Transcending traditional boundaries of genre, German's love songs and folk ballads established her reputation as an innovator of the 1960 and 1970s folk and jazz world. In 1981 her Turkish-language album (recorded in France) was awarded the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy ...

. German's final album was titled ''

Nazım Hikmet A nazim is the coordinator of a city or town in Pakistan. Nazim or variant spellings may also refer to: * Nazim (given name), including a list of people with the given name ** Nirmala Devi, born Nazim, Indian actress and singer * Nazim (surname), ...

'e Saygı'' (Respect to Nazım Hikmet). After a farewell concert in the Netherlands in 1987, Tülay German retired from performing.Biography
/ref> Since the death of her partner Erdem Buri on January 2, 1993, German has retired from public life.

Works

Discography

;Selected singles * Summertime, 1962 ( Odeon) * Burçak Tarlası/Mecnunum Leylam'ı gördüm, 1964 (Ezgi) * Yarının Şarkısı/Kızılcıklar Oldu mu?, 1965 (Ezgi) * La Chanson De L'oubli / Le Coeur D'un Ange, 1967 (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

) * O Eski Günler / Sevmem Bir Daha, 1968 (

) * C'Est Joli De S'Aimer / Kumbaya, 1968 (

) * Dere Geliyor Dere / Kara Kızın Türküsü, 1968 (

) * Aras Üste Buz Üste / Seni Alıp Kaçayım, 1968 (

) * Mara Eva, 1970 (

) * Maria Isabelle/ J'avais 10 petits frères (

) * A Perdre Haleine (for Janis Joplin)/ L'Homme Est Un Bateau, 1972 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

) ;Albums * Tract: A composition of Agitprop Music for Electromagnetic tape (with

İlhan Mimaroğlu İlhan Kemaleddin Mimaroğlu (, March 11, 1926 – July 17, 2012) was a Turkish American musician and electronic music composer. Biography He was born in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of the famous architect Mimar Kemaleddin Bey depicted on the T ...

), 1975 (Folkways) * Toulaï et François Rabbath, 1980 (Arion) * Günlerimiz (with

Zülfü Livaneli Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (born 20 June 1946), better known as Zülfü Livaneli, is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician. Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish military memorandum for his political views, ...

), 1980. * Hommage à Nâzım Hikmet (with François Rabbath), 1982 (Arion) * La Turquie de Mehmet Koç, 1985 (Arion). ;Compilations (CD) * Le Chant Des Poètes (with François Rabbath), 1998 (Arion) * Yunus'tan Nâzım'a (with François Rabbath), 1999 (Kalan) * '62 - '87 Burçak Tarlası, 2001 (Kalan) * Sound of Love, 2007 (Kalan) Discography by Murat Meriç, Çağdaş Uyar, Ercan Demirel
/ref>

Bibliography

* *

Legacy

- The 2010 documentary movie, ''Tülay German: Kor ve Ateş Yılları'' (literally: ''Tülay German: Years of Fire and Cinders''), describes her life and music. - "Mecnunum Leylamı Gördüm" is a part of the soundtrack of the 2009

Pelin Esmer Pelin Esmer (born 3 May 1972, Istanbul) is a Turkish Film director, screenwriter and film producer. Career Pelin Esmer studied sociology at the social sciences department of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. She made her first short documentary, ...

's movie, ''11'e 10 Kala/

10 to 11 ''10 to 11'' () is a 2009 Turkish drama film directed by Pelin Esmer. The film, loosely based on the story of Esmer's uncle, Mithat Esmer, who also plays the leading role, follows an elderly collector in İstanbul who lives in a rundown apartment ...

''.

References

External links

Years of Fire and CindersTülây German : résonances d'une icône folk et politique

(an essay and a selection of ten songs by French website La Blogothèque) {{DEFAULTSORT:German, Tulay 1935 births Singers from Istanbul Üsküdar American Academy alumni Turkish people of Circassian descent Turkish women jazz singers Turkish jazz singers Turkish folk singers Turkish women folk singers Turkish pop singers Turkish women pop singers Turkish emigrants to France Grand Prix du Disque Living people French-language singers of Turkey English-language singers from Turkey Spanish-language singers of Turkey Turkish radio presenters Turkish television presenters Turkish women radio presenters Turkish women television presenters