Nay
player, composer (B. 2 August 1902, Istanbul – D. 1 December 1953, Istanbul).
His father is one of the muezzins of Sultan Selim Mosque, Hâfız Hasan Efendi,
his mother Dürriye Hanım. Upon the death of his father he became the muezzin of
Sultan Selim Mosque at a young age (1913). He started to learn music from the
chief imam of the mosque Sadettin Kaynak. In spite of negativities of 1st
World War he completed his secondary education. In 1927 he left his duty as a
muezzin and started to work as an officer in the Office of Monopolies. The same
year he left Istanbul and served in directorates of this institute in Keskin,
Karaman, Kütahya, Çarşamba and Burdur. In 1942 he returned to Istanbul and was
assigned to Branch General Directorate of Tekel and later to Head of Registry
Office of Cibali Tobacco Factory. During his duty in Cibali factory he passed
away and was inhumed to Edirnekapı Martyr’s Memorial.
After Hüseyin Fahreddin Dede, Süleyman
Erguner was regarded as the best nay player of his age. He was also known with
the beauty of his voice. He received his first musical knowledge in musical
gatherings, dervish lodges and Mawlawi lodges he started to attend starting
from young ages. Upon the suggestion of Neyzen Emin Efendi (Yazıcı) he started
to play nay at the age of sixteen. He managed to be a nay player with his own
style without taking lectures from anyone and with his own efforts. Since his
official duty he remained in various places of Anatolia where he established
associations and participated to musical activities. After returning to
Istanbul he gathered masters of music with regular meetings at his home.
In 1944 he started his radio works with
the first test broadcastings in the Radio of Istanbul. He continued them in the
new Radio of Istanbul, which launched in 1950. During his works in this
institution, at a time near to his death, he established a group called Erguner
Ensemble, which consisted of instruments of nay, tambour, oud and kudüm (T.N. a small
double drum). He made efforts to revive classical Turkish music and
Sufi music in the Radio of Istanbul and in musical gatherings he attended. Süleyman
Erguner, who preferred to play especially mansur
and şah nays and was known with his smooth
and deep sounds, also he raised numerous students. Among
them are his son Ulvi Erguner and Niyazi Sayın, Selâmi Bertuğ, Alâeddin Yavaşça
and Nevzat Atlığ the most famous ones.
Aside from playing nay he also composed
some works. Erguner is author of twenty compositions, which consist of six
chants, five songs and nine instrumental works. Among them are Yahya Kemal
Beyatlı's uşşak yürük semai which
starts with the line "Ömrün şu biten neşvesi tâm olsun erenler" and uşşak ilahi which starts with the line
"N'oldu bu gönlüm n'oldu bu gönlüm"
whose lyrics are written by Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî.
