Typescript document signed 'Maarif Vekili B. Nafiz' about Mahmud Ragip Kösemihal and Adnan Saygun's Anatolian travels for the compilation of Turkish music, sent to 'Musiki Muallim Mektebi'
B. NAFIZ, (Turkish Minister of Education).; MAHMUD RAGIB KÖSEMIHAL [GAZIMIHAL], (Turkish musicologist, writer and intellectual), (1900-1961).; [AHMED] ADNAN SAYGUN, (Composer and musician who was one of the 'Turkish Fives' Group, ethnomusicologist), (1907-1991).
Original Typewritten Historical Document (TLS) - TC Maarif Vekâleti Ort. Ted. Dairesi Letterhead, Ankara, 1933.
Original typescript (TLS) and an important historical document signed by the Minister of Education. 25x19 cm. In Turkish (Latin letters). 1 p. Sent to "Musiki Muallim Mektebi" [i.e. The school of music teachers]. A document stating that the relevant travel planned in advance and submitted to the Ministry of National Education is deemed appropriate, but stating that the relevant ministry cannot provide financial assistance. Ahmet Adnan Saygun was a Turkish composer, musicologist, and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a mastery of Western musical practice, while also incorporating traditional Turkish folk songs and culture. When alluding to folk elements he tends to spotlight one note of the scale and weave a melody around it, based on a Turkish mode. His extensive output includes five symphonies, five operas, two piano concertos, concertos for violin, viola, and cello, and a wide range of chamber and choral works. The Times called him "the grand old man of Turkish music, who was to his country what Jean Sibelius is to Finland, what Manuel de Falla is to Spain, and what Béla Bartók is to Hungary". Following the operas, he was neglected in Ankara State Conservatory by its founder Paul Hindemith. He moved to Istanbul as part of the theory faculty at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory. In 1936 Béla Bartók visited Turkey to research the native folk music. Saygun accompanied Bartók on his travels around the country, collecting and transcribing folk songs all through the Anatolia and Osmaniye (a region of Adana), Turkey. Saygun gained immense knowledge of Bartók's style of writing during this trip and learned a great deal about string quartets: they became great friends. In 1939 he was invited back to Ankara to further promote Western musical activities and practices. A year later he formed his own organization, Ses ve Tel Birliği, which showcased recitals and concerts throughout the country, further developing public knowledge of Western classical music. Gazimihal was a Turkish musicologist, researcher, historian, and writer. He, who died in 1961, was also the uncle of famous pianist Idil Biret.