Vocal artist (B. 23rd May 1897, Istanbul - D. 18th April 1943, Ankara). His real name was Burhaneddin, and he took
on the surname Sesyılmaz after the surname act. He
is also known as Burhan of Beşiktaş and Mızıkalı Burhan. His
father was Tüfekçi Ahmed Bey, among guardsmen of Abdülhamid II, and his mother
was Feride Hanım. After his primary education, he graduated
from Kocamustafapaşa Rüştiyesi. He stood out at a young age with his
beautiful voice and before he even memorized Koran, he started to read Koran,
mewlid, elegies, and performed as a bard and muezzin. In
1918, he was recruited to Mızıka-i Hümayun as a singer, only to leave
voluntarily after a while. After some time, he was on demand for both
religious and non-religious musical gatherings. His
records became a big hit among public. He was involved in the foundation of
Istanbul Radio and he joined Dârütta'lîm-i Musiki. He
gave many concerts abroad, most of which were in
Both religious
and non-religious songs sang by Hafız Burhan are among the rare performances of
the near history of the Turkish music. Although he took his first music lessons
from his elder brother, we cannot say that he had a rooted musical education. He
also learnt from Muallim İsmâil Hakkı Bey, Zâti Arca and Lem’i Atlı during his
time in Mızıka-i Hümayun. Since he had a bright and wide tenor
voice, he displayed fine performances as a muezzin, both in the minaret and
within the mosque, as well as in Âyetü'l-kürsî and big prayers. One
of the last masters of the ode form, Hâfız Burhan also recorded many pieces in
the folk song, song, lullaby, canto, tango, operetta and march forms.
His elegy, widely known as Makber, starting with the line “Her yer karanlık pür nûr o mevki”, from
Abdülhak Hâmid’s play titled Târık,
became quite famous with Hâfız Burhan performance and later singers tried to
perform this song as he did. Hâfız Burhan also composed music for
some movies, as well as several songs. Among these, the most famous is
his song starting with the line “Hasta
kalbimde açılmış ebedî bir yarasın”, and his “Yeni Ninni”, an example of ode in nevâ maqam.