Composer (B. 6 May 1908, Istanbul – d. 16
February 1999, Ankara). He learnt violin at primary school and cello at secondary
school. During high school years he continued Darülelhan and took lectures of
harmony from Cemal Reşit Rey. He produced his first attempts of compositions at
the age of fourteen monotonic with cello. After graduating from Istanbul Boys’
High School (1926) he went to Vienna to develop his musical works. In Vienna
State Music and Performing Academy he took lectures of harmony, counterpoint,
fugue and composition from Joseph Marx and cello from Kleinecke. While
continuing master studies at Vienna Academy he also enrolled to Prague State
Conservatory. He studied high composition with Josef Suk and
microtonal music with Alois Hába.
When he returned to Turkey in 1934 he
became part of the “Turkish Fives” together with Cemal Reşit Rey, Hasan Ferit
Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin and Adnan Saygun. He started to develop and
institutionalize polyphonic Turkish music. In 1935 together with the German
composer Paul Hindemith he participated to the foundation works of Ankara State
Conservatory and became a teacher of composition in this school. In a concert
in 1939 which was held within a music festival
during the 7th foundation anniversary of community centers Akses’
work Çiftetelli was performed. He wrote first sketches of Ankara
Kalesi, Senfonik Tarih (1942) during his military service in 1938-39, which
was performed by Symphonic Orchestra of Presidency at Ankara and City Orchestra
of Berlin at Berlin. It was also released as a record in Europe. This work was
the first Turkish work recorded abroad.
Akses served as
Conservatory Director in 1948 and as Fine Arts General Director in 1949 . He
was in Bern (1954) and Bonn (1955-57) as a Cultural
Attaché. During the years 1958-60 he became General Director of State Opera and
Ballet. In 1971 he undertook the same duty. Upon the change of the government,
since he could not get well with the new cultural undersecretary he retired by
his own will in 1972. The composer who became a professor in 1985 gave lectures
of composition at Ankara State Conservatory until the last periods of his life.
Necil Kâzım Akses, who is
rather known as master of large symphonic forms, used essential rhythms and
melodies in his compositions, as well as applying occasional music technique in
which different instrument groups participated to the music with different
tempos. He
used maqams of classical Turkish music, rhythmic and melodic elements of folk
music in an intensive orchestration and a stable sentiment of form. He
presented his great symphonies, his lieds
he composed upon the works of Turkish poets such as Melih Cevdet Anday, Orhan
Veli and Cahit
Külebi and his works of large choirs after the
1960s.
Akses became one of the
eleven people who received the title of State Artist when this title was
granted for the first time in 1972. The symphonic poem titled Barış için
Savaş he wrote in 1981 for the 100th anniversary of Atatürk’s
birth received Atatürk Arts Award.
MAIN
WORKS:
Preludes and fugues (1929), Five
piano pieces (1930), Allegro Feroce (1930), Poem (1930), Piano
Sonata (1930), Flute-Piano Sonata (1933), Three Poems (1933), Mete (one-act opera, 1934), Çiftetelli (symphonic
dance for orchestra,
1934), Şiir ve Müzik (1935), Minyatürler (1936), music for Sophokles' play Antigone (1936), music for Sophokles' play Kral
Oidipus (1936), music for Julius Caesar
(1936), Conservatory March (for choir and orchestra, together with U. Cemal
Erkin, 1940), Ankara
Kalesi (symphonic poem,
1942), Trio for strings (1945), Poem (for cello and orchestra, 1946), Quartet for strings (1946), Unaccompanied polyphonic chorus compositions (1947), Timur (opera, incomplete, 1956), Eskilerden İki Dans (1960), Ten piano
pieces (1946), On türkü (for full chorus unaccompanied, 1964), Portreler (1965), Symphony (No. I, 1966), Concerto (1969), Scherzo on Itri’s
Nevâ-Kâr'ı (for large orchestra, 1970), Quartet
for strings "Ağıt Kuartet" (1971).
Cumhuriyet'in 50. yıl marşı
(1973), Sesleniş (1973), Senfonik
destan (1973), Sololar geçidi (From the opera Timur, 1974), Şiirlere müzik (1975), Bir
divandan gazel
(1976), Viola concerto (1977), Capriccio (1977), Symphony
for string orchestra
(1978), Quartet for strings (1979), 3rd Symphony (1979-80), İdil (for solo cello and orchestra, 1980), Barış için savaş (symphonic poem, 1981), İstanbul'a gönül veren ozanlar (for polyphonic choir,
1983), 4th Symphony (1983).