Turkish Five

The Turkish Five (Turkish: Türk Beşleri) is a name used by some authors to identify five pioneers of western classical music in Turkey.^[1] They were all born in the first decade of the 20th century and composed their best music in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, especially during the presidencies of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and İsmet İnönü. They all shared contacts with the two presidents and were highly encouraged as such, both on a personal level and also through the general drive towards westernization in Turkey.

The Turkish Five composers are:^[1]

• Ahmet Adnan Saygun
• Ulvi Cemal Erkin
• Cemal Reşit Rey
• Hasan Ferit Alnar
• Necil Kazım Akses

These composers set out the direction of classic music in the newly established Turkish Republic. The use of Turkish folk music and traditional/modal elements in an entirely western symphonic style characterised the music of these composers.^[2]

References[]

Notes

Sources

• Helvaci, Ayhan (2012). "Contemporary Turkish Composers – Turkish Five". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, pp. 2630–34.
• İlyasoğlu, Evin (1998). Çağdaş Türk bestecileri [Contemporary Turkish Composers]. Pan Yayıncılık 49. Beşiktaş, İstanbul: Pan Yayıncılık. ISBN 9789757652687.

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.
• Woodard, Kathryn (2007). “Music Mediating Politics in Turkey: The Case of Ahmed Adnan Saygun” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East Vol. 27, No. 3, 552-562.

External links[]

• Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Official Web Site
• Necil Kazım Akses, Official Web Site
• Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. I on SheetMusicPlus.com
• Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. II on SheetMusicPlus.com
• Anthology of Turkish Piano Music, Vol. III on SheetMusicPlus.com

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