View source for Necdet Yaşar

{{Short description|Turkish musician and educator}}
{{Infobox musical artist
 | name            = Necdet Yaşar
 | image           = Yasar playing tanbur.jpg
 | caption         = Necdet Yaşar in 1972, performing for guests at a private home in Istanbul
 | image_size      = <!--ONLY IF VERTICAL PIC AND LESS THAN 220 WIDTH-->
 | background      = non_vocal_instrumentalist
 | birth_name      = <!--SAME AS NAME-->
 | birth_date      = {{birth-date|1930}}
 | birth_place     = [[Nizip]], [[Gaziantep Province|Gaziantep]], [[Turkey]]
 | death_date      = {{death date and age|2017|10|24|1930}}
 | death_place     = [[Istanbul]], Turkey
 | instrument      = [[tanbur (Turkish)|Turkish ''tanbur'']] lute
 | genre           = [[Classical Turkish music]]
 | years_active    =
 | label           = [[Kalan Müzik|Kalan]], [[Golden Horn Records|Golden Horn]]
 | website         =
}}

'''Necdet Yaşar''' ({{IPA|tr|ˈnedʒdet ˈjaʃaɾ}}; 1930 - October 24, 2017) was a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[Tanbur (Turkish)|''tanbur'']] lute player and teacher. A founding member of the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble, he performed throughout the world as a cultural ambassador for Turkey and taught twice at the [[University of Washington]] (USA).<ref name="UWEthmusic">[http://depts.washington.edu/ethmusic/country.html#turk UW dept. of ethnomusicology, "Visiting Artists by Country"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813173702/http://depts.washington.edu/ethmusic/country.html |date=2007-08-13 }} at Washington.edu</ref> In 1991, the Turkish government awarded him the title of "[[National Artist (Turkey)|National Artist]]".<REF NAME="GovTrStateArtist" />

==Overview==
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}

In 1930, Necdet Yaşar was born into a Turkish family in [[Nizip]], a small town near [[Gaziantep]], Turkey. He graduated from the School of Economics, Istanbul University.<REF NAME="Aksoy2005">Aksoy 2005, op. cit.</ref>

Professor Robert Garfias, Director of the Ethnomusicology Program at the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington State, USA)--on the recommendation of graduate student Karl Signell—appointed Yaşar as Visiting Artist for 1972–73 academic year [Signell 1977, p. xv]. Garfias again appointed Yaşar, together with the noted ney master Niyazi Sayın as University of Washington Visiting Artists for 1980-81 [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813173702/http://depts.washington.edu/ethmusic/country.html#turk UW dept. of ethnomusicology, "Visiting Artists by Country"].

While in residence at the University of Washington, Yaşar gave lectures on the ''makam'' system of Ottoman classical music.<REF NAME="Aksoy2005" />

In 1972, Yaşar and Signell attended the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) where Yaşar in effect introduced the largely unknown Turkish Classical Music to ethnomusicologists by talking and performing on the tanbur [Tanburi Necdet Yaşar: Anılar—Dostlar. New York: Brainstorm, 2009, p.&nbsp;263.]

In 1981 he met Alan Prosser from England.  He agreed to teach Alan and his children the complete makam list and system.  This happened over the next 7 years.  All the lessons were tape recorded. Yaşar later asked Alan to help preserve the true knowledge of the makams and the Traditional Turkish Art Music Society of Great Britain was started.  Yaşar also asked Alan and his children to play a recital on Turkish Television to help with the revival of interest in the ancient makam system. As well as this he asked Alan to write to the Turkish Culture Minister to help establish Yaşar's music group officially.

In 1988, Yaşar was a founding member of the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble. He directed it until 1995 when he retired.<REF NAME="Aksoy2005" />

In 1991, the Turkish government awarded him the title of "National Artist" (''Devlet Sanatçısı'').<REF NAME="GovTrStateArtist">{{in lang|tr}} [http://www.kultur.gov.tr/TR/BelgeGoster.aspx?F6E10F8892433CFFAC302172C9058B83FEC4C99500064A90 1991 Turkish State Artist Honors ''(1991 Yılında Seçilen Devlet Sanatçıları)''] at Kultur.gov.tr</ref>

In small and large ensembles, including his own "The Necdet Yasar Ensemble", he has performed throughout the world, in Europe, East Asia, and North America, as a concert artist and ambassador of Turkish classical music.<REF NAME="Aksoy2002" />

Yaşar is noted for his command of the Turkish ''[[Turkish makam|makam]]'' melodic modes, his influential ''tanbur'' techniques, and the construction of his ''taksim'' improvisations;<REF NAME="Aksoy2005" /> as described by ''[[fRoots]]'' magazine, "Yaşar's technical mastery is absolute, in particular his use of the range of plectrum techniques that is at the heart of tanbur playing. However, as a musician, what most distinguishes him is his unparalleled knowledge of and insight into the Turkish classical repertoire and the improvisational possibilities presented by its modal system. Yas<!--LATIN s QUOTED-->ar is one of those few artists who are both guided by and themselves guide tradition."<REF NAME="Williams2005">William 2005, op. cit.</ref> He "belongs to a musical lineage going back to at least [[Tanburi Cemil Bey]]",<REF NAME="Williams2005" /> and continued with [[Mesut Cemil]], of whom he was the principal student.<REF NAME="Aksoy2002">Aksoy 2002, op. cit.</ref> His ''taksimler'' solo improvisations and his dual improvisations (''beraber taksimleri'') with ''[[ney]]'' flutist [[Niyazi Sayın]] are noted for their sensitivity.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

Experts cite two particular facets amongst all of his skills that make him amongst the most important musicians of his time and culture: (1) his understanding of melodic movement (called in Turkish [[seyir]] within the complex musical modes (that are called in Turkish [[Turkish makam|makam]]) that form the basis of traditional Turkish classical art music; he has even been called the "living embodiment of seyir today",<ref name="ReferenceA">["Music of the Ottoman Court", by Walter Feldman, published in 1996 by Verlag fur Wissenschaft und Bildung]</ref> and (2) his understanding (and taste) of how to employ the complex pitch-interval structure of Turkish classical music to a particular musical mode ([[Turkish makam|makam]]) and piece; there is a theoretical definition of the musical pitch intervals used in this music, but there is wide acknowledgment amongst expert practitioners that good practice is not always in agreement with the theory,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and Yaşar was widely consulted by even the most expert musicians about correct practice.<ref>["Makam: Modal practice in Turkish Art Music, Karl Signell, published in 1977 by Asian Music Publications]</ref><ref>“The Art of Master Musician Necdet Yaşar as a Key to the Subtleties of Classical Turkish Music,” Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music, Musicians and History - Essays in Honour of Robert Garfias. Ashgate.</ref>

Yaşar died in Istanbul on October 24, 2017.<ref name=dergi>{{cite web | title = 2009 yılı "Kültür ve Sanat Büyük Ödülü" Neyzen Niyazi Sayın ve Tanburi Necdet Yaşar'ın | url = http://www.musikidergisi.net/?p=1325 |website=musikidergisi.net/ | publisher = Musikidergisi. net sitesi | date = 27 October 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170606164414/http://www.musikidergisi.net/?p=1325 | archive-date = 6 June 2017}}</ref>

==References==
; Sources consulted <!--ALPHABETICALLY-->
<!--PLEASE LIST HERE THE FULL CITATIONS OF THE MAIN BOOKS (AUTHOR, DATE, TITLE, PUBLISHER, PAGES), MAGAZINES (AUTHOR, DATE, ARTICLE TITLE, ISSUE NUMBER, PAGES), OR REPUTABLE ONLINE SITES (DIRECT URLS) USED AS MAIN SOURCES FOR WRITING THE BULK OF THIS ARTICLE. AND USE TOPICAL ‹REF› Author Year, op. cit., p. NNN ‹/REF› OR SIMILAR FOR CONTEXTUAL ENDNOTES REFERENCING SPECIAL DETAILS OR CONTROVERSIAL POINTS. THANKS. -->

* {{Cite web
 | author      = Aksoy, Bülent
 | date        = 2002
 | title       = "Necdet Yaşar Ensemble" (record label biography)
 | work        = [[Golden Horn Records]]
 | publisher   = GoldenHorn.com
 | url         = http://www.goldenhorn.com/display.php4?content=engagements&page=ge_yasar_2002.html
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020608085939/http://www.goldenhorn.com/display.php4?content=engagements&page=ge_yasar_2002.html
 | url-status    = dead
 | archive-date = 2002-06-08
 }}
* {{Cite web
 |author=Aksoy, Bülent 
 |date=2005 
 |title="Necdet Yaşar" (record label biography) 
 |work=[[Kalan Müzik]] 
 |publisher=Kalan.com 
 |url=http://www.kalan.com/scripts/Dergi/Dergi.asp?t=3&yid=2950 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106171817/http://www.kalan.com/scripts/Dergi/Dergi.asp?t=3&yid=2950 
 |archivedate=2005-11-06 
 |url-status=dead 
 |df= 
}}
* Signell, Karl. 2011. “The Art of Master Musician Necdet Yaşar as a Key to the Subtleties of Classical Turkish Music,” Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music, Musicians and History - Essays in Honour of Robert Garfias. Ashgate.
* {{Cite web
 |author=Williams, Chris 
 |date=August 2005 
 |title="Necdet Yasar 2" (CD review) 
 |work=[[fRoots]] #266/267 
 |publisher=CDRoots.com 
 |url=http://www.cdroots.com/kalan-273.html 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216073516/http://www.cdroots.com/kalan-273.html 
 |archivedate=2006-02-16 
 |url-status=dead 
 |df= 
}}

; Endnotes

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://userpages.umbc.edu/~signell/makam/audio/tanbur.mp3 Audio sample: short ''taksim'' improvisation, Makam Mahur] (1:25 min, [[MP3]] format, 332 [[kilobyte|kB]])

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasar, Necdet}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from Gaziantep]]
[[Category:Turkish tambur players]]
[[Category:Turkish musicians]]
[[Category:Composers of Ottoman classical music]]
[[Category:Composers of Turkish makam music]]
[[Category:Musicians of Ottoman classical music]]
[[Category:Musicians of Turkish makam music]]
[[Category:Istanbul University alumni]]