ABSTRACT of Doctoral Thesis of Ezgi Saydam, 2010

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk supported the establishment and development of the ‘Contemporary Polyphonic Turkish Music’. He sent talented young Turks to the best music schools in Europe; he brought in and appointed the most qualified, accredited music authorities from Europe, to establish an academic music curriculum in Turkey to educate students.Young prospective composers/musicians who were sent to Europe for their education returned and offered their services to education in many different institutions. In this first generation of composers, a group was formed known as the ‘Turkish Five’. They set the precedence to and influenced the second and third generation composers who followed them. Turkish composers have pioneered the development of opera and singing in Turkey. Their pieces were originally composed for a mezzo-soprano voice and mezzo-soprano’s had important parts in their opera’s. This thesis will study and compare the composers of the past 86 years in Turkey (1923-2009), the pieces they have written for mezzo-soprano’s and how Turkish music has globally grown during this period.

Return to Biography: