Bülent Arel (23 April 1919 – 24 November 1990) was a Turkish-born composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), modern forms of Post-tonal music theory, post-tonal music after th ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

. He 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 ...

, and studied composition at the

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Conservatory and

sound engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He later taught at the Ankara Conservatory, established the Helikon Society of Contemporary Arts, and served as the first music director of Radio Ankara from 1951 to 1959. He was also a painter and sculptor, and several of his works are in the permanent collection of the Turkish National Gallery. In 1959, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

invited him to work at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. There he composed and recorded two of his best-known works, "Stereo Electronic Music No.1" and "Stereo Electronic Music No.2" In 1962, he worked with

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coine ...

on the electronic sections of Varèse's ''

Déserts ''Déserts'' (1950–1954) is a piece by Edgard Varèse for 14 winds (brass and woodwinds), 5 percussion players, 1 piano, and electronic tape."Blue" Gene Tyranny (2010). " Déserts for brass, percussion, piano & tape, ''AllMusic.com''. The piece ...

''. He also designed and installed the electronic music laboratory at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, where he taught from 1961 to 1970, and he established the electronic music program at the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

, where he taught from 1971 until his retirement in 1989. Besides electronic works, Mr. Arel wrote chamber music, vocal works, and symphonic pieces, including a series of works commissioned by the Mimi Garrard Dance Theater. In the course of his work, he invented the 'splicing tape dispenser', as well as other devices for tape handling. He was a pioneer of looping techniques. His notable students include

Daria Semegen Daria Semegen (born June 27, 1946) is a contemporary American composer of classical music. While she has composed pieces for traditional instruments – her ''Jeux des quatres'' (1970), for example, is scored for clarinet, trombone, cello, and p ...

, Conrad Cummings, Jing Jing Luo,

Joël-François Durand Joël-François Durand (born 17 September 1954) is a French composer. Biography Born in Orléans, Durand studied mathematics, music education and piano in Paris, then composition with Brian Ferneyhough in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (198 ...

, John Tabacco and Frederick Bianchi. In later life Arel lived in

East Setauket, New York East Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island, in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. Before that it was part of the Setauket-East S ...

. He died of

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, ...

in neighboring Stony Brook.

References

*Obituary. ''The New York Times'', November 28, 1990 (section D, p. 22). *Gluck, Robert J. "The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center: Educating international composers" in ''Computer Music Journal'' v. 31, no. 2 (Summer 2007), pp. 20–38. 1919 births 1990 deaths Galatasaray High School alumni Turkish emigrants to the United States 20th-century classical composers Turkish classical composers Brookhaven, New York Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Musicians from Istanbul People from East Setauket, New York Male classical composers Turkish electronic musicians 20th-century male musicians Turkish expatriates in France {{turkey-composer-stub