Ergican Saydam (March 28, 1929 – December 21, 2009) was a Turkish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and piano pedagogue. He was an advocate of Turkish composers such as

Cemal Reşit Rey Cemal Reşit Rey (; 25 October 1904 – 7 October 1985) was a Turkish people, Turkish composer, pianist, screenwriter, script writer and Conducting, conductor. He was well known for a string of successful and popular Turkish-language operettas fo ...

Ahmed Adnan Saygun Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the The Turkish Five, Turkish Five who pioneered Music of Turkey#Western influence on Turk ...

Cengiz Tanç Cengiz is the Turkish form of Genghis, as in Genghis Khan. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Cengiz Aktar (born 1955), Turkish political scientist, journalist and writer * Cengiz Bektaş (1934–2020), Turkish architect, engine ...

and

İlhan Usmanbaş İlhan Usmanbaş (23 October 1921 – 30 January 2025) was a Turkish contemporary classical composer who was trained and recognised internationally. He was of the "second generation" of Turkish composers, who integrated European techniques int ...

whose music he premiered and recorded. His repertory centers around German romantic literature, particularly the music of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Biography

Ergican Saydam was born on March 28, 1929, in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He studied with Ferdi Statzer at the Istanbul Conservatory and with

Friedrich Wührer Friedrich Wührer (29 June 1900 – 27 December 1975) was an Austrian- German pianist and piano pedagogue. He was a close associate and advocate of composer Franz Schmidt, whose music he edited and, in the case of the works for left hand alone, r ...

Staatliche Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

in Munich. Saydam gave more than 2,000 concerts in five continents. He made several recordings of piano literature and also contemporary composers. He also taught at the Mimar Sinan Istanbul Conservatory and was appointed to a professorship. In 1986, Ergican Saydam recorded the world premiere (after the composer) of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

's '' Grande Marche Paraphrase pour Abdul Medjid Khan'' (Sultan Abdülmecid) composed in 1847. He made also the premiere of

's second Piano Concerto with the

Presidential Symphony Orchestra The Presidential Symphony Orchestra (; CSO), with headquarters in Ankara, is the presidential symphony orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. Its history dates back as far as 1826, making it one of the first symphony orchestras in the world. Afte ...

(Ankara) under the composers baton. He was the jury for the International Maurice Ravel Piano Competition in 1975. He also received the

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

, Margrit Ramdohr and

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

prizes. He died on December 21, 2009, in Istanbul.

Publications

Her daughter mezzo-soprano Ezgi Saydam wrote ''Taburede 60 Yıl , 60 Years on Stool'' (Arma, 2009).

Discography

He recorded an LP called Turkish Themes including works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

and also contemporary Turkish composers such as

Ulvi Cemal Erkin Ulvi Cemal Erkin () (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 o ...

Cenan Akın Cenan Akın (1932, Şebinkarahisar – 3 November 2006, Istanbul) was a Turkish composer, conductor and music educator. He directed the first L.P. disc of modern Turkish choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ...

, Bülent Tarcan, and İlhan Usmanbaş. He also made numerous special recordings for the TRT Radio (Turkish National Radio-TV).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saydam, Ergican 1929 births 2009 deaths Turkish pianists Musicians from Istanbul 20th-century pianists