Musician,
composer, and master tambour player (B. December 1902, Istanbul – D. October 31st,
1963, Istanbul) He was the son of Tamburî Cemil Bey. Even though he used “Tel”
(cord) as his surname for a while, he soon gave it up. He spent his childhood
in the musical environment of his father; however, he didn't receive a music
education. While he was a student at İstanbul Sultanîsi (Istanbul High School),
he began to get acquainted with the Western music by getting violin lessons
from Daniel-Fitzinger at the age of thirteen. Later on, he kept on with lessons
by Karl Berger.
He worked on
tambour with Cemil Bey, Kadı Fuat Efendi, and Refik Fersan. He benefited from
Refik Talat Alpman in the matter of general music knowledge. While he was
enhancing his knowledge on mode and tempo, he learned “Hampartsoum” notation
system in the meantime. Upon he was seventeen, he had become a tambour player.
Cemil Bey, who began to appear on stage in the concerts of Şark Musiki
Cemiyeti, Ali Rifat Çağatay being the principal conductor, worked with masters
such as Rauf Yekta, Zekâizade Ahmet Efendi, Abdülbaki Baykara, Neyzen Emin
Efendi as well as keep performing at Mevlevi Lodges. He learned the tambour
technique and manner also known as “Oskiyan manner” from Suphi Ezgi, which was
derived from Tamburî İzak and brought down by his father. He kept learning
Western music through cello and violin lessons. After he listened to Şerif
Muhittin Targan playing the cello, he began to spend most of his time on
exercises with this instrument.
He went to Germany, thereby dropping out of Darülfünün Law
School (Istanbul University
Law School).
He became a student of the cello teacher Hugo Becker at Berlin Music
Academy. During his
education in Germany,
he deepened his knowledge on general music knowledge and music history and
culture as well as advancing his cello playing. After two and a half years, in
1924, he had to return to his homeland due to financial difficulties and his
mother's illness. Next year, he became a tambour, solfeggio and theories
teacher at Darülelhan (Istanbul Municipal Conservatory). He started to work in
İstanbul Radio in 1927, when the first radio broadcasting began under the Türk
Telsiz ve Telefon Şirketi (T.N. Turkish Radio and Telephone Company).
Henceforward, he joined the broadcast as a cellist and tambour player while he
worked on the every area of radio broadcasting as a narrator, broadcaster,
music publications chief, manager of Ankara
and İstanbul radios, and as the advocate in general.
Mesut Cemil
founded the “Classical Choir” at Ankara Radio for the first time. He led the
way for studies on the appreciation of folk music. He completed his higher
education by graduating from the Turkish Language and Literature Department of
the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography while he was in Ankara. He taught cello
at Ankara Gazi Terbiye Institute, the history of Classical Turkish Music and
cello at Ankara State Conservatory, Musical Folklore at İstanbul Municipal
Conservatory. He gave music lessons in high schools.
Mesut Cemil
represented Turkey with Rauf
Yekta Bey at the Congress of Arabic Music, held in Cairo in 1932. He contributed the studies of
İstanbul Municipal Conservatory on the determination of the notes of classical
works carried by the Organization and Determination Council. He worked at the
Fine Arts Academy in Baghdad
for four years upon the invitation of Iraqi government in 1955. Even though he
retired in 1960, he continued to be the principal conductor at İstanbul Radio.
In the published memoirs of his colleagues, it is told that one day, rushing
through the halls of İstanbul Radio, Mesut Cemil explained excitedly that Bach
and Itri had given voice to the same thing. That proved his great music culture
and high perception level. Mesut Cemil Bey was also one of those who had discovered
great folk poet Âşık Veysel Şatıroğlu. He became a source of inspiration to
Necdet Yaşar, one of the biggest tambour players.
He is regarded
as one of the most equipped and the most talented musicians in Turkish
Classical Music Turkey
brought up in recent years. His essays and radio speeches, which contributed to
the development of musical culture, are noteworthy. Among his best known
compositions are “Kanatları Gümüş Yavru Bir Kuş” (Nihavent fantasy), “Martılar
Atı Eder Çırpar Kanat” (tune Hejaz), “Çargâh
Türk Raksı”, “Nihavent Saz Semaisi” and “Şehnaz Sirto”. The composer published
a book after his father named “Tamburi Cemil Bey’in Hayatı” (1947). His
grave is placed in Sahray-ı
Cedit Cemetery.