Necil Kazım Akses 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

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Life

Akses studied music and composition in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 with Joseph Marx

Joseph Marx

Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic.-Life and career:Marx pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earning several degrees including a doctorate in 1909. He began composing seriously in 1908 and over the next four...

 and in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 with Josef Suk

Josef Suk (composer)

Josef Suk was a Czech composer and violinist.- Life :Suk was born in Křečovice. He studied at Prague Conservatory from 1885 to 1892, where he was a pupil of Antonín Dvořák and Antonín Bennewitz. In 1898, he married Dvořák's eldest daughter, Otilie Dvořáková , affectionately known as Otilka...

 and Alois Hába

Alois Hába

Alois Hába was a Czech composer, musical theorist and teacher. He is primarily known for his microtonal compositions, especially using the quarter tone scale, though he used others such as sixth-tones and twelfth-tones....

. He helped co-found the Ankara Conservatory with the composer Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

 and served as director of the institution for a while.

Together with Cemal Reşid Rey, Ulvi Cemal Erkin

Ulvi Cemal Erkin

Ulvi Cemal Erkin 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 of music in the newly established Turkish Republic...

, Ahmet Adnan Saygun

Ahmet Adnan Saygun

Ahmed Adnan Saygun was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. Ahmed Adnan Saygun is acknowledged as one of the most important 20th century composers in Turkish music history....

, and Ferid Alnar, Akses belonged to a group called The Turkish Five

The Turkish Five

The Turkish Five is a term used to describe the five pioneers of western classical music in Turkey. They were all born in the first decade of the 20th century and they composed their most outstanding music in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, especially during the presidencies of Mustafa...

, who were the first Turkish composers to adapt their homeland's musical tradition

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...

 to the techniques of Western classical composition. (Their name alluded to the Russian Five

The Five

The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie , refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin...

.)

In 1949, Akses entered the service of the Turkish state. He worked as the Turkish cultural attaché

Cultural attaché

A cultural attaché is a diplomat with special responsibility for promoting the culture of his or her homeland. The position has been used as an official cover for intelligence agents. Historically, the post has often been filled by writers and artists, giving them a steady income, allowing them to...

 in Bern and Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

, among other posts.

Akses composed orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

l works, chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

, and pieces for piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

. His most famous work is his violin concerto

Violin concerto

A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...

(1969).

Works

Operas

• "Mete" (Opera in one act) (Libretto: Yaşar Nabi Nayır) (1933)
• "Bayönder" (Opera in one act) (Libretto: Münir Hayri Egeli) (1934) (First performance: 27 December 1934-Ankara-Conductor: Adnan Saygun)
• "Timur" (Opera in four acts) (Libretto: Behçet Kemal Çağlar) (Incomplete) (1956)
• "MİMAR SİNAN" (Opera) (Libretto: Necdet Aydın and Necil Kâzım Akses (First act completed) (1980’s)

Orchestra

• Poem (1932-33) (premièred on 29 October 1933-Prague)
• A Summer Remembrance – Morning on the Bosphorus (1932-33) (premièred on 29 October 1933-Prague)
• "Çiftetelli" Op.6 (Symphonic Dance) (1933) (First performance1934-Prague)
• "Bayönder Suite" from the opera "Bayönder" (1934)
• "The Citadel of Ankara" – Symphonic Poem - (1938-1942) Ankara State Conservatory Publication (First performance: October 1942-Ankara-PSO*-E. Praetorius)
• "Ballade" (1947) (State Conservatory Publication No.55) (First performance: 14 April 1948-Ankara-PSO-Ferid Alnar)
• "Two Antique Dances" (orchestral version) (23 May 1962) (State Conservatory Publication No.40) (First performance: 25 November 1969-Ankara-PSO-Hikmet Şimşek)
• Symphony No. 1 (1966) (State Conservatory Publication) (First performance: 10 November 1967-Ankara-PSO-Gothod Ephraim Lessing)
• Scherzo on Itri’s Neva Kâr (1970) (First performance: 25 December 1970-Ankara-PSO-Hikmet Şimşek)
• " ‘Sesleniş’(Calling) for the 50th Anniversary of Turkish Republic" (1973) (First performance: 27 October 1973-Ankara-PSO-Hikmet Şimşek)
• Concerto for Orchestra (1976-1977) (First performance: 1 April 1977-Ankara-PSO-Otakar Trhlik)
• Symphony No. 2 (for strings orchestra) (1978) (Private Publication)(First Concert performance: 4 February 1997-Aşkabad-Türkmenistan-Orkestra "SAZ"-Muhammed Nazer Mommadov)
• Symphony No. 3 (1979-1980) (First performance: 2 May 1980-Ankara-PSO-Gürer Aykal)
• "War for Peace-To the memory of Atatürk" (Symphonic Poem) (1981 First performance: 26 March 1982-Ankara-PSO-Gürer Aykal)
• Symphony No. 4 "Sinfonia Romanesca Fantasia" (for solo cello and orchestra) (1982-1984) (First performance: 9 January 1987-Ankara-Ali DOĞAN-PSO-Rengim Gökmen)
• Symphony No. 5 "Thus spoke Atatürk" / "Sinfonia Rhetorica" (Rhetoric symphony for tenor solo, chorus, children’s chorus, organ and orchestra) (1988) (First performance: 26 October 1989-İstanbul-IDSO-Rengim Gökmen)
• Symphony No. 6 "Ölümsüz Kahramanlar" (Immortal Heroes) (For Bariton Solo, Chorus and Large Orchestra)(First Movement Completed) (1992)

Vocal Music

• "Poetry and Music" (for bass-baritone and orchestra) (1935) (State Conservatory Publications No.49)
• Symphonic Epic "For the 50th Year of Our Republic" (for soprano solo, chorus and orchestra) (1973) (State Conservatory Publications)
• "Parade of Soloists" (from the opera "Timur") (for soprano, mezzo-soprano, bartion and orchestra) (1974)
• "Lyric Poem from A Divan" (for tenor solo and orchestra) (1976) (First performance: 24 December 1976-Ankara-Osman Gökoğlu- PSO - Gürer Aykal)

Solo instrument and orchestra

• "Poem" (for solo cello and orchestra) (1946) (State Conservatory Publication No.25) (First performance: 29 June 1946-Ankara-Antonio Saldarelli-PSO-Ferid Alnar)
• Violin Concerto (1969) (State Conservatory Publication) (First performance: 5 May 1972-Ankara-Suna Kan-PSO-Gothod Ephraim Lessing)
• Viola Concerto (1977) (First performance: 14 April 1978-Ankara Koral Çalgan-PSO-Tadeusz Strugala)
• "Idyll" (for cello and orchestra) (1981) (First performance 20 March 1981-Ankara-Doğan Cangal-PSO-Gürer Aykal)

Chamber Music

• "Allegro Feroce" (for clarinet/saxophone and piano) (1930) (Universal Edition Publication No. 10.024) (First performance: 5 May 1931-Vienna) (Friedrich Wildans-Friedrich Statzer)
• Introduction and Fugue for String Quartet (1930-31) (First performance: Vienna-5 May 1931-The Rothschild Quartet)
• "Allegro Feroce" (viola and piano version)
• "Poem" (for violin and piano) (1930) (First performance: 5 May 1931-Vienna-Christa Richter (violin)-Friedrich Statzer (piano)
• Sonata for flute and piano (1933) (Jorj D.Papajorjiu Publication No. 64. First performance: 13 June 1934 Prague-Karel Neoproud-Flute-Karel Reiner-Piano)
• "Three Poems" (for mezzo-soprano and string quartet) (1933)
• Trio for Strings (1945) (State Conservatory Publication No. 43)
• String Quartet No. 1 (1946) (State Conservatory Publication No.21) First performance: 26 September 1947-Prague-Çeskoslovenska Quartet)
• String Quartet No. 2 "Elegy" (1971) (First performance: 28 October 1974-İstanbul-Vienna Soloists)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1979) (First performance: 1979-TRT studio recording- Yücelen Quartet)
• String Quartet No. 4 (1990) (First performance: 23 October 1991 – Düsseldorf-Yücelen String Quartet)

Voice and Piano

• "Portraits I" (for voice and piano) (1964) (State Conservatory Publication No.30)
• "Music for Poems"/Portraits II (for voice and piano) (1975) State Conservatory Publication No:75
• No or yes? (Lied) (for voice and piano) (1988)

Piano Music

• Preludes and Fugues (for piano) (1929)
• Turkish Invention (for piano)
• Five Piano Pieces (1930) Universal Edition UN 9625 publication)
• Piano Sonata (1930) (Jorj D.Papajorjiu Publication No.73 (First performance: 5 May 1931-Vienna: Friedrich Statzer)
• "Miniatures" (for piano) (Jorj D.Papajorjiu Publication No.80) (1936)
• Two Antique Dances (piano version)
• Ten piano pieces (1964) (Ankara State Conservatory Publication No.29)

Solo Instrument

• "Capriccio" (for solo viola) (May 1978) (First performance: 30 April 1979-Ankara-Koral Çalgan)
• "Sad Melody" (for solo viola) (23 April 1984)

Chorus

• Folk Songs (Harmonized) (1936)
• A capella chorus compositions (1947) (State Conservatory Publication No.23)
• Ten Folk Songs(Harmonized a capella mixed chorus) (1964) (State Conservatory Publication No.33) (First performance of some of them -1964-Ankara State Opera Chorus-Ferit TÜZÜN)
• "Poets Devoted to İstanbul" (for polyphonic a capella chorus) (1983) (First performance: the same year, TRT Ankara Polyphonic Chorus-Walter Strauss-Studio recording)

Marches

• "Conservatory March" (with Ulvi Cemal Erkin) – (for chorus and orchestra) (1940)
• Boy Scout March (for chorus and orchestra)
• "Turkey"(march for chorus and orchestra)
• "March for the 50th Anniversary of the Republic" (for chorus and orchestra) (1973) (First performance: 1973-PSO-Hikmet Şimşek)

Incidental Music

• Incidental music for "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare (for wind instruments) (1942)
• Incidental music for "Antigone" by Sophocles (for wind instruments) (1942)
• Incidental music for "King Oidipus" by Sophocles (for wind instruments and women’s chorus) (April 1943)

External links

• Necil Kazım Akses, Official Web Site