Özlem ONUK, AJERR, 2017; 2:1 Research Article AJERR 2017,2:1 American Journal of Educational Research and Reviews (ISSN:2474-9265) Composition Style Of Modern Turkish Composer Cemal Reşit Rey Özlem ONUK Assistant Professor Dr., Gaziosmanpaşa University Education Faculty, The Department of Music Education, Tokat/ Turkey ABSTRACT Having been one of the first generation composers in the history *Correspondence to Author: of Turkish Republic, Cemal Reşit Rey (1904- 1985) is an import- Özlem ONUK ant artist who served much as a pianist, conductor and educa- Assistant Professor Dr., Gazios- tor. He helped the advance of Turkish composition through his manpaşa University Education Fac- works. Therefore, Cemal Reşit Rey and his works are worth to ulty, The Department of Music Ed- be examined. ucation, Tokat/ Turkey, ozlem.onuk @gop.edu.tr With this study, it was aimed to bring a new perspective on the works and composition style of Cemal Reşit Rey. When the compositions of Rey were examined, four different periods were How to cite this article: observed in terms of style and composition technic: 1st period Özlem Onuk. Composition Style Of (1912-1926) was “tonal formation and development in creation”; Modern Turkish Composer Cemal 2nd period (1926–1930) was “ethno-folkloric formation and Reşit Rey. American Journal of Ed- development in creation”; 3rd period (1931–1946) was “mod- ucational Research and Reviews, al-mystic formation and development in creation”; and 4th period 2017,2:1. (1946–1983) was “back to tonality and mixed practices in cre- ation”. He composed a total of 85 known pieces which demon- strated different style, pattern, form and musical characteristics. Most of his works were symphony, symphonic poem, suite, rhapsody and concerto. eSciPub LLC, Houston, TX USA. Key Words: Turkish composer, composing style, Cemal Reşit Website: http://escipub.com/ Rey AJERR: http://escipub.com/ajerr/ 0001 Özlem ONUK, AJERR, 2017; 2:1 Introduction move to Paris in 1913, but in 1914 the invasion of Paris left the family in a difficult position, and Cemal Reşit Rey is an important composer who Ahmet Reşit Rey. His family went to Geneva with is internationally popular and has affected so the help of the French Government and stayed many cultural fields from education to theater there until 1919 (İlyasoğlu 2005: 27). and opera stages. There are many services of him during the institutionalization of Turkish mu- During his years in Paris, Cemal Reşit Rey sees sic culture. Mahler as an orchestra director, and the direc- tor of the conservatory, Gabriel Faure, listens Rey; in a group of composers which sometimes to his piano. Faure sends him to the famous referred as Türk Beşleri (Necil Kâzım Akses, pedagogue Marguarite Long after he listens to Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Cemal him. Debussy’s student, famous pianist Mar- Reşit Rey ve Ahmet Adnan Saygun), is the only guarite Long, a close friend of Ravel, is closely important person who has been able to continue interested in him and teaches piano. In Geneva his music education with his family and his own he continues to the Geneva Conservatory and possibilities and influenced foreign composers goes up to master class, but in 1919 he returns and instructors with his superior ability in music to Istanbul because of his father’s internal du- (Uyar, 2010:10). ties. His father leads him to a piano teacher in Istanbul, but Cemal Resit’s knowledge is more Object than this piano teacher. This time Cemal Reşit is In this study; the works of Cemal Reşit Rey and being trained in Paris alone, starting to work with his composing style were taken together with the Marguerite Long again. He takes music aesthet- musical development. In terms of compositional ics lessons from Gabriel Faure at the Conser- style, some of the works in these periods, were vatory. He works with composer Raoul Laparra tried to explain the stylistic features. and conducts orchestra choreography with Henri Defosse. In college years, he starts to get inter- Methods and Resrictions ested in his compositions (İlyasoğlu, 2001:280; Uyar, 2010: 15). In this study, descriptive analysis, which is the one of the qualitative research methods, was His brother Ekrem Reşit Rey graduated from used. Geneva Academy of Fine Arts with first place. Thanks to his good reputation, he has worked as Cemal Reşit Rey’s Life a French teacher and book translator at Istanbul His father was Ahmet Reşit Rey, born in 1870 Technical University. He has performed many in Istanbul. Ahmet Reşit Bey’s father is former theatrical performances he has directed. With Çankırı governor Abdullah Şefik Bey. Ahmet Re- his brother Ekrem Cemal Reşit Rey, they direct- sit Rey married Fethiye Hanim in 1896 and her ed many operas and operattas (Türe, 1997: 16). first child Fatma Samime was born in 1898. Ce- mal Reşit Rey’s elder brother Ekrem Reşit Rey When the Republic was declared in Istanbul in was born in 1900, when Ahmet Reşit Bey was 1923, Rey returned home and started to teach at appointed as the governor of Jerusalem in 1904 the Istanbul Conservatory. Cemal Reşit Rey es- in Jerusalem (Kurşunet, 2014: 34). tablished a choir in 1926. Then, as Istanbul Trio, Ahmet Resit served as an important politician in he creates concerts of the cello-violin-piano trio the Ottoman Empire. Thanks to his hard work with Asal siblings. Again in 1926, Cemal Reşit and knowledge, he became the 3rd clerk of Rey was selected as a member of the Compos- Yıldız Palace in 1892 and later served as gov- ers’ Union, and since that date all of his works ernor in Monastir (1906), Ankara (1907) and have been under the protection of copyright Aleppo (1908). The Rey family, who settled in (Güner, 2000: 10). Istanbul in 1909, stayed in Istanbul for a short time. There Cemal Reşit Rey, attends to Mektebi In 1934, Rey formed a string ensemble. Some Sultani, today Galatasaray High School. Due to of the members are conservator students; others his father’s political situation, he was forced to are musicians from other professions. The band AJERR: http://escipub.com/ajerr/ 0002 Özlem ONUK, AJERR, 2017; 2:1 became a symphony orchestra in 1944 with the melody (main theme) in compositions, and that addition of breathable instruments. In 1945, it he was influenced by Stravinsky and Ravel, from was named Istanbul City Orchestra. In 1972, it the harmonic structure of Bartok in rhythmical became an orchestra with regular concerts ev- terms, formally he was under the effect of Ravel. ery Sunday depending on the municipality and Stravinsky’s influence was seen in the fast pace, in 1972 it became the Istanbul State Symphony and his beloved composers were Chopin and Orchestra (İlyasoğlu, 2001:280). Debussy (Aydın 2003:31). He has never pro- duced ordinary works, he has always tried to get In 1938 he chaired the Department of Western into the essence of the work in consciousness Music in Ankara and Istanbul Radios. He pre- and philosophy. Despite technical difficulties to pared and presented the “Piano World Trips” express the artwork, he searched for the best program. In 1945 he founded the Istanbul Phil- way (İlyasoğlu, 2005:239). harmonic Society with the help of music lovers from Istanbul. Under his leadership, many con- On the composer’s piano music composer and certs were given both domestically and in many academic Ertuğrul Sevsay says as follows: “Ce- overseas cities such as Paris, Rome, Naples, mal Bey’s piano music has richness beyond pia- Athens, Belgrade, Madrid and Bucharest (Say, no. You can hear an orchestra. For this reason, it 1985a: 1086). is not difficult to make them symphonic “(İlyasoğ- lu, 2005:238). Between 1932 and 1942, he composed oper- etta and revue music along with his older brother Musicologist Halil Bedii Yönetken says that for Ekrem Reşit. Each play aroused great interest. the first time in history A Turkish composer who Despite the belief of some classical music artists has made himself accepted to the world pre- that Rey wasted time, Rey did not underestimate sented Turkish Folkloric Music . Composer Ilhan his operetta and revue studies. In 1985, Lüküs Usmanbaş found the music of Rey very hard, Hayat was performed after 51 years at Istanbul complicated and incomprehensible. They have City Theater under the direction of Haldun Dor- argued that it is necessary to understand the- men. Cemal Reşit Rey was in sickbed and was matic associations, harmonic structure, using tilt, taken out of the hospital especially for the gala tonal, modal and atonality (Aydın, 2003: 31). night and brought to Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Theater. After many years, the work was a great Orchestra maestro Pertev Apaydın says that success. The work and Rey were applauded for in the works of Rey; there is a structural con- several minutes. The next day he was hospital- sistency, and that Rey has a unique harmonic ized again and died afterwards (Akgül, 2009:22). structure in his works, quartets, quintuplets and counterpoints. Cemal Reşit Rey was honored with the title “State Artist” in 1982. Art historian and musicologist Cevat Memduh Altar; prepared the following chart after analyz- Cemal Reşit Rey’s Composing Style ing Cemal Reşit Rey’s experiences of creativi- ty, performance, conduct and organization over Cemal Reşit Rey clearly exhibited the current seventy years. trends and the musical character of his coun- try in his works. He mastered the Turkish mu- Composition based on tone factor sic items in his works and laid the foundations of contemporary polyphonic music. Many important 1) Tonal formation and development in creation; musicologists, educators and artists expressed 2) Ethno-folklore formation and development in opinions on Cemal Reşit Rey’s music.