Composer (B. 14
September 1922, Istanbul – D. 9 December 1988, Istanbul). She studied in the 17th
School in Beşiktaş and Nişantaşı Girls High School. Her musical skills were
noticed by her teacher Hikmet Koptagil during her secondary education. She
started that year her music works taking lectures from Nemci Yar and Nuri Halil
Poyraz. After a while Nuri Halil Poyraz took Radife Erten to the Director of
Istanbul Radio, Cevdet Kozanoğlu. The song of Selahattin Pınar titled Ne Gelen Var she vocalized here
impressed Cevdet Kozanoğlu so that he asked her to sing it again. Later she
started singing with a daily wage of five liras using a chair under her feet since she was not big enough for the microphone. During
those years she was complimented by Atatürk who told her "Let’s make your middle name Küçük Safîye".
It is narrated that Radife Erten threw herself from the balcony on the 2nd
floor of her house and broke her arm, when she heard from the radio that
Atatürk passed away.
When
the Radio of Ankara was opened in 1938, she was assigned to it at the age of 14
as an artist-officer. Since she was not old enough, her age was increased to
twenty. Between the years 1938-48 Erten worked as a soloist in the Radio of
Ankara. She received the title of teacher in an exam organized in the Radio of
Ankara in 1948 and served as a teacher until 1951. When the Radio of Istanbul
was opened in 1951 she went to Istanbul and worked there as a soloist and choir
maestro until 1982. The first days she came to Istanbul she appeared on the
stage in Kristal Club in Taksim. At that time she was holding concerts at least
at eight different places in one night. She also produced five gramophone
records in this period. She also served in Istanbul Municipal Conservatory,
Executive Committee.
Her
teacher Cevdet Kozanoğlu gave her the nickname "Hacı Kirami". She
raised numerous students including Sevim Tanürek, Behiye Aksoy, Muzaffer
Birtan, Mustafa Sağyaşar, Abdullah Özman, Sami Aksu, Altın Kızlar, Hamdi
Demirci, Ziya Taşkent, Ayla Büyükataman, Bülent Ersoy and Nazan Sıvacı.
MAIN
WORKS:
Sevgili İstanbul cihana bedelsin (Tempo: Sofyan, Maqam: Nihâvend), Henüz bahar çağıdır, ihtiyaz olmaz gönül
(Tempo: Düyek, Maqam: Nihâvend), Aşka
düştüm ağlarım Leyla'ma Mecnun'dan beter (Tempo: Curcuna, Maqam: Hicaz), Sâki halime bir bak elemlerle dolmuşum
(Tempo: Aksak, Maqam: Rast), Aşık oldum
sorma halim, hüzn ile doldum bu gece (Tempo: Düyek, Maqam: Segâh), Çekme mihnet yâr için (Tempo: Curcuna,
Maqam: Karcığar, Lyrics: Celal Erten), Sen
gideli sevgilim güller sarardı (Tempo: Düyek, Maqam: Hicaz).
