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Revision as of 07:27, 17 April 2007 by Daveh4h (talk | contribs) (fix typos, minor rewrite)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)İlhan Usmanbaş (b. 1921) is a leading Turkish composer. Usmanbaş is married to opera singer Atıfet Usmanbaş. He was born in Istanbul.
History
Usmanbaş grew up in Ayvalık. At age twelve, his elder brother gave him a 'cello and began to teach himself to play. After moving back to Istanbul, he studied the 'cello seriously. His math teacher, a lover of music, advised Usmanbaş to give up the career that he had planned for himself: "We have enough engineers in Turkey. You should be a composer instead."
After graduating from Galatasaray Lisesi, Usmanbaş went on to study under members of the Turkish Five – Cemal Reşit Rey, Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, and Necil Kazım Akses – and David Zirkin, at Ankara State Conservatory.
Influences and Musical Style
In 1952 he went to the United States on a UNESCO scholarship, where he came under the influence of American pioneers of new and experimental music.
Usmanbaş is an experimental composer, belonging to the second generation of Turkish composers after the Five (and opposed to their ideas). He works with free form and concentration on intensity rather than melody. His techniques include neo-classicism, aleatoric music, twelve tone, serialism, and minimalism.
Awards
He has composed nearly 120 works and has won more foreign awards and citations than any other Turkish composer. This includes commissions from the Koussevitzky foundation in the United States, prizes from the Wieniawski competition in Poland, the International Composers Tribune in Paris, and the International Competition for Ballet Music in Switzerland.
In 1955 he received a FROMM Music Award, in 1971 he became a State Artist; in 1993 he received a gold medal from the Sevda Cenap And Foundation, in 2000 Boğaziçi University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 2004 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd International Istanbul Music Festival.
Notes
- BBC Music Magazine 12:11, July 2004: p.30
Sources
- International Istanbul Music Festival (Ýstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts) (retrieved 3 January 2007)
- Evin Ilyasoglu, "Turkish Music" (retrieved 3 January 2007)
- Harriet Smith, "Turkish Delight" (BBC Music Magazine 12:11, July 2004: pp 28–31)