Ilhan Usmanbas
Encyclopedia
İlhan Usmanbaş is a Turkish
composer
.
Born in Istanbul
, Usmanbaş grew up in Ayvalık
. When he was twelve years old, his elder brother gave him a cello
, and began to teach himself to play. After moving back to Istanbul, he studied the cello seriously. His maths teacher, a lover of music, advised Usmanbaş to give up the career that he had planned for himself: "We have enough engineers in Turkey. You should be a composer instead."
After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Usmanbaş went on to study under members of the Turkish Five
– Cemal Reşit Rey
, Ahmet Adnan Saygun
, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin
, and Necil Kazım Akses
– and David Zirkin, at Ankara State Conservatory
.
In 1952, he went to the United States
on a UNESCO
scholarship, where he came under the influence of American pioneers of new and experimental music. In 1955 he received a FROMM
Music Award, in 1971 he became a State Artist
; in 1993 he received a gold medal from the Sevda Cenap And Foundation, in 2000 Boğaziçi University
awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 2004 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd Istanbul International Music Festival
, he is teacher of Music at Istanbul Bilgi University
.
Usmanbaş is an experimental composer, one of the second generation of Turkish composers, coming after the Five (and opposed to their ideas). He works with a freedom of form and a concentration on intensity rather than melody, with techniques that include neo-classicism
, aleatoric music
, twelve tone
, serialism
, and minimalism
.
He has composed nearly 120 works, and has won more foreign awards and citations than any other Turkish composer, including commissions from the Koussevitzky foundation in the United States, and prizes from the Wieniawski competition in Poland, the International Composers Tribune in Paris, and the International Competition for Ballet Music in Switzerland.
Usmanbaş is married to opera singer Atıfet Usmanbaş.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Born in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Usmanbaş grew up in Ayvalık
Ayvalik
Ayvalık is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of the Balıkesir Province.It was alternatively called by the town's formerly indigenous Greek population, although the use of the name Ayvalık was widespread for centuries among both the Turks and the Greeks...
. When he was twelve years old, his elder brother gave him a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, and began to teach himself to play. After moving back to Istanbul, he studied the cello seriously. His maths teacher, a lover of music, advised Usmanbaş to give up the career that he had planned for himself: "We have enough engineers in Turkey. You should be a composer instead."
After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Usmanbaş went on to study under members of the Turkish Five
The Turkish Five
The Turkish Five is a term used to describe the five pioneers of western classical music in Turkey. They were all born in the first decade of the 20th century and they composed their most outstanding music in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, especially during the presidencies of Mustafa...
– Cemal Reşit Rey
Cemal Resit Rey
Cemal Reşit Rey was a Turkish composer, pianist, script writer and conductor.He was born on October 25, 1904 in Jerusalem, and died on October 7, 1985 in Istanbul....
, Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Ahmet Adnan Saygun
Ahmed Adnan Saygun was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. Ahmed Adnan Saygun is acknowledged as one of the most important 20th century composers in Turkish music history....
, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin
Ulvi Cemal Erkin 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...
, and Necil Kazım Akses
Necil Kazim Akses
Necil Kazım Akses was a Turkish classical composer.-Life:Akses studied music and composition in Vienna with Joseph Marx and in Prague with Josef Suk and Alois Hába...
– and David Zirkin, at Ankara State Conservatory
Ankara State Conservatory
The Ankara State Conservatory, the first conservatory to be founded in the Republic of Turkey, was established in 1936 by a directive of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.- Notable attendees :* Paul Hindemith* Carl Ebert* Evelyn Baghtcheban* Samin Baghtcheban...
.
In 1952, he went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
scholarship, where he came under the influence of American pioneers of new and experimental music. In 1955 he received a FROMM
Fromm
Fromm is a surname that may refer to:* Eric Fromm , a former tennis player from the United States* Erich Fromm , an internationally renowned German-American Jewish psychologist and humanistic philosopher...
Music Award, in 1971 he became a State Artist
State Artist
State Artist is a honorary title issued to artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions into the Turkish culture. It was established in 1971 by President of Turkey and the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism....
; in 1993 he received a gold medal from the Sevda Cenap And Foundation, in 2000 Boğaziçi University
Bogaziçi University
Boğaziçi University is a public university located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey. It has five faculties and two schools offering undergraduate degrees, and six institutes offering graduate degrees...
awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 2004 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd Istanbul International Music Festival
Istanbul International Music Festival
The Istanbul International Music Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, is a cultural event held every June and July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of European classical music, ballet, opera and traditional music performances with the participations of famous artists from all over the...
, he is teacher of Music at Istanbul Bilgi University
Istanbul Bilgi University
Istanbul Bilgi University is a private, non-profit university in Istanbul, Turkey. It was actually established in 1994 under the name ISIS , but its name was changed to Istanbul Bilgi University with the foundation of the school on June 7, 1996...
.
Usmanbaş is an experimental composer, one of the second generation of Turkish composers, coming after the Five (and opposed to their ideas). He works with a freedom of form and a concentration on intensity rather than melody, with techniques that include neo-classicism
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
, aleatoric music
Aleatoric music
Aleatoric music is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer...
, twelve tone
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, serialism
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
, and minimalism
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
.
He has composed nearly 120 works, and has won more foreign awards and citations than any other Turkish composer, including commissions from the Koussevitzky foundation in the United States, and prizes from the Wieniawski competition in Poland, the International Composers Tribune in Paris, and the International Competition for Ballet Music in Switzerland.
Usmanbaş is married to opera singer Atıfet Usmanbaş.
Sources
- International Istanbul Music Festival (Ýstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts) (retrieved 3 January 2007)
- Evin Ilyasoglu, "Turkish Music" (retrieved 3 January 2007)
- Harriet Smith, "Turkish Delight" (BBC Music MagazineBBC music magazineBBC Music Magazine is a magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Reflecting the broadcast output of BBC Radio 3, the magazine is devoted primarily to classical music, though with sections on jazz and world music. Each edition comes...
12:11, July 2004: pp 28–31)