Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) 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 compli ...

Turkish tambur The ''tambur'' (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the four ...

, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in Ottoman classical music. His son, Mesut Cemil Bey, was an equally renowned Turkish tambur virtuoso.

Biography

Cemil Bey was born in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, in 1871 or 1873; his birth date is uncertain. He took his first lessons in music from Kanuni Ahmet Bey and the violin player Kemani Aleksan, his first instruments thus being the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and the kanun. After completing middle school, he continued in a school for civil servants (''Mülkiye''), but then devoted himself to music and abandoned his education. He began to play the

quite early in his youth and by the age of 20, his renown had already spread among the tamburis of

. Reforming the traditional playing technique of the tambur, he developed an energetic technique based on a rich and agile picking style, lightening to a great extent the sonority of this instrument. Later on, he set about playing the Turkish classical kemençe and attained an astonishingly high level of technique, so much so that the virtuosity level of the Ottoman kemençevi of Greek origin Vasilaki (1845–1907), considered as then as "the reference", came to be thought of by certain amateurs to be outmatched. He was also the inventor of the Yaylı tambur. Cemil Bey was able to play any instrument he picked up: he played lavta,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

, yaylı tambur, zurna and several other instruments with equal virtuosity. His taksims and instrumental works he recorded on 78rpms with tanbur, kemençe, lavta,

and yaylı tambur had considerable impact on generations of musicians following him. The

peşrev ''Peşrev'' (pronounced in Turkish), ''Pişrev'' (), ''peshrev,'' or ''pishrev;'' called ''bashraf'' بشرف in Arabic; is an instrumental form in Turkish classical music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performa ...

s and sazsemais he composed are pieces of great taste, requiring a developed performance technique. According to close friend Mahmut Demirhan: He was a very sensitive and nervous person, who eventually suffered from alcoholism. Most of his compositions have been preserved in his recordings, but some of his works were incomplete when he died.

Compositions

* Bestenigâr Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Ferahfezâ Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Ferahfezâ Peşrev (Muhammes) * Hicâzkâr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Hicâzkâr Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Isfahân Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Isfahân Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Kürdîlihicâzkâr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Mâhûr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Mâhûr Peşrev (Muhammes) * Muhayyer Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Muhayyer Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Nevâ Peşrev (Devr-i kebîr) * Şedarabân Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Şedarabân Peşrev (Fahte) * Sûz-i Dilarâ Saz Semâî (Aksak semâî) * Nikrîz Zeybek (Aksak) * Nikrîz Longa (Nîm sofyân) * Kürdîlihicâzkâr Şarkı (Aksak) - Def-i Nalis Eylerim Hep Seyri Ruhsarınla Ben * Hüseynî Şarkı (Devr-i hindî) - Gormek Ister Gozlerim * Şehnâz Şarkı (Sengîn semâî) - Feryad Ki Feryadım * Nihâvend Şarkı ( Yürük semâî) - Sevdim Seni Ey İşvebaz * Mâhûr Şarkı (Ağır Aksak semâî) - Var İken Zâtında Böyle Hüsn-ü An

Notes

References

* Who is who database
''Biography of Tanburi Cemil Bey''
* Turkmusikisi.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bey, Cemil 1873 births 1916 deaths Musicians from Istanbul Composers from the Ottoman Empire Turkish tambur players Turkish classical kemençe players Composers of Ottoman classical music Composers of Turkish makam music Musicians of Ottoman classical music Musicians of Turkish makam music