Münir Nurettin Selçuk (1900 – April 27, 1981) was a Turkish

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 classical musician

Ottoman classical music

Ottoman classical music developed in Istanbul and major Ottoman towns from Skopje to Cairo, from Tabriz to Morocco through the palace, mosques, and sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with a small instrumental ensemble...

 and tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 singer. He was one of the most revered names in Turkish music

Music of Turkey

The music of Turkey includes diverse elements ranging from Central Asian folk music and has many copies and references of Byzantine music, Greek music, Ottoman music, Persian music, Balkan music, as well as more modern European and American popular music influences...

.

Biography

He was born in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in 1900 or 1901. As a youth, Selçuk studied in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 before returning to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and becoming a musician. In 1927, he travelled to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 for a musical education, then began working for the Istanbul Conservatory in 1953. He was the director of the Conservatory for a total of sixteen years.

Selçuk spent some time singing in stage musicals. One of Selçuk's most important legacies was the establishment of the position of lead singer in Turkish music. He died on April 27, 1981.

He fathered two sons, both of whom followed his footsteps into music, pianist composer Timur Selçuk

Timur Selçuk

Timur Selçuk is a renowned Turkish singer, pianist, conductor and composer.- Biography :He is a son of the legendary Turkish neo-classical music composer, Münir Nurettin Selçuk, and the elder brother of the jazz drummer and composer Selim Selçuk. He started playing piano at the age of five and...

, and jazz drummer composer Selim Selçuk.

Works

He appeared in the films "Üçüncü Selim

Selim III

Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...

'in Gözdesi" (1950), "Hasret" (1944), "Kahveci Güzeli" (1941) and "Allah'ın Cenneti" (1939) as well as composing for three films.

External links