Ulvi Cemal Erkin

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Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Born(1906-03-14)March 14, 1906
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
DiedSeptember 15, 1972(1972-09-15) (aged 66)
Ankara, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
OccupationMusician

Ulvi Cemal Erkin (Turkish pronunciation: [ulˈvi dʒeˈmal æɾˈcin]) (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904–1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic. These composers distinguished themselves with their use of Turkish folk music and modal elements in an entirely Western symphonic style.

Biography

Ulvi Cemal Erkin's aptitude for music was noticed at an early age by his mother, herself a pianist. His father was a senior civil servant in the Ottoman administration, contracted sepsis and died when the Erkin was seven. The widowed mother and her three sons took refuge at the mansion of the maternal grandfather also a high-ranking official of the declining Ottoman Empire and an intellectual.

Erkin took his first piano lessons from Mercenier, a Frenchman, and later from Adinolfi; then, a renowned professor of music in Istanbul. He graduated from Galatasaray High School. Concurrent with his studies at the Galatasaray High School dispensing education in the French language, he pursued his efforts in the path of becoming a musician and availed himself of every opportunity which could contribute to his aspirations.

The newly founded republic was aiming to expand modernisation and westernisation to every aspect of life, including music.

Paris Conservatory and the Ecole Normale de Musique. He studied piano with Isidor Philipp, and composition with Jean and Noël Gallon and Nadia Boulanger
at the Paris Conservatoire and the École Normale de Musique.

Upon his return to

polyphonic music throughout Anatolia
.

Erkin shared the grand prize of the Republican People's Party with Ahmet Adnan Saygun and Hasan Ferit Alnar in 1943 for his Piano Concerto. He wrote the famous Köçekçe orchestral suite the same year. It was Alfred Cortot who gave him the idea of composing a piano concerto during his visit to Turkey, after listening to his Quartet.

The Piano Concerto and the Köçekçe suite were premiered by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra on March 11, 1943. The orchestra was conducted by Dr. Ernst Praetorius, and Ferhunde Erkin was the soloist. On the request of German Ambassador Franz von Papen, the piano concerto was performed in Berlin, Germany, on October 8, 1943. The Berlin Philharmonic was conducted by Fritz Zaun and the soloist was again Ferhunde Erkin.

Erkin, who composed his first works while a student in Paris, was productive as a composer throughout his career as a professor of music which he embarked in 1930 at the age of 24, or occasion appearing as a pianist to perform a concerto, on others as an

Turkish music
.

His works are widely and frequently performed and broadcast outside Turkey and he personally conducted his own works with orchestras such as the

Concerts Colonne at the Brussels Fair and Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France
.

Erkin's heart had been failing since his late forties and he succumbed to a last stroke on September 15, 1972, at the age of 66. He was laid to rest at the Karşıyaka Cemetery in Ankara.[1]

Honours

Erkin was awarded the

State Artist by the Turkish government in 1971. Erkin was awarded a post-mortem medal of honour by the Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation in 1991. A postage stamp commemorating his life was issued by the Turkish postal system
in 1985.

In July 2010, The

Municipality of Çankaya (Ankara) organised a national architectural competition for a concert hall with 2000 seats which shall be named after his name; Ulvi Cemal Erkin Concert Hall. The competition won by architects Ramazan Avcı, Seden Cinasal Avcı and Evren Başbuğ; a design team formed by the partners of SCRA Architects and Dist Architects. The site for the concert hall is in Çankaya, the central metropolitan district of the city of Ankara, the capital of Turkey
.

Works

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Ulvi Cemal Erkin Kimdir ?" (in Turkish). Sahne Tozu Tiyatrosu. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.

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.

External links

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