Another plane tree from Turkish music was overthrown. Kemence virtuoso İhsan Özgen passed away.
Murat OKUTMUŞ
Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Turkish Music State Conservatory (TMDK) lecturer, kemençe virtuoso İhsan Özgen passed away. {2 }
Being one of the first names that come to mind when it comes to Classical Turkish Music, Özgen left very precious marks with his compositions, painting and writing as well as his fiddle artist. Özgen, who brought his art to a modern line by developing from his own roots, will always be remembered as a rare name who brought many artists and educated students to Turkish Music. Hakan Şensoy, who wrote a biography for Özgen, who was sent off on his last trip in Ümraniye, explained the artistic side of Özgen, which he referred to as ‘an artist beyond borders’.
İTÜ Turkish Music State Conservatory Faculty Member Hakan Şensoy, his article is as follows:
“I’m so sorry. Turkey has lost one of the greatest living legends of art. Dear teacher, my dear friend, the artist Ihsan Özgen, who is beyond borders, sleep in peace…
İhsan Özgen was born in 1942 in Urfa. After completing his primary and secondary education in Kilis and Ankara, he entered Istanbul University Faculty of Economics. The artist, who started music and painting at an early age, focused on music during his university years. After his graduation in 1967, he started to work as a professional musician at TRT Istanbul Radio. He gave numerous concerts in Turkey and other countries, participated in seminars and music festivals. His music for string instruments, Masterworks of Itri & Meragi; Remembrances of Ottoman Composers; Legacy; Cantemir: Özgen, who has international CDs and LPs such as Music in Istanbul § Ottoman Europe around 1700, continued his painting studies throughout his musical life. He went to concerts in Paris, Amsterdam, Boston, New York, Florence, Berlin, Stockholm etc. He also conducted research on art history and artists in cities.
He has been interested in many domestic and foreign painting exhibitions in Istanbul and abroad. He watched the workshops of Yusuf Katiboğlu, Nan Freeman, Zeynep Torun, Kasım Koçak, Erol Deneç, Nur Ataibiş, Erol Deran, and Mehmet Refik Kaya, and received advice from them. He went to the USA for an academic term at the invitation of the University of Southern California (Santa Cruz) Department of Ethnomusicology. He gave Turkish Music theory lectures and seminars and participated in the concert titled Kantemiroğlu as a soloist. The CD of this concert was released in 2004 under the Goldenhorn label. He held workshops at the Painting Faculty of the same university. For a while, Prof. He continued Ali Alpaslan’s calligraphy lesson. He watched the marbling works of Niyazi Sayın and Feridun Özgören.
The artist, who has been teaching kemençe for years at the ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory, has trained the most important fiddle artists such as Derya Türkan and Neva Özgen. ”
Bayburt Fırat Kızıltuğ, a musician and composer, one of the authors of the Postası newspaper, wrote two of his poems in his book Poems (Msikî with Words), which he published in 2016, dedicated to İhsan Özgen, whom he called the ‘Tanbûrî Cemil Bey’ of the time. Here are the poems Kızıltuğ gave to İhsan Özgen:
CEMİL CEMİL
to İhsan Özgen
Gönlüm, balled ball, wire wire,
Take my longing to your saz,
Let it be my taksim, Neveser;
Cemil Cemil,
Cemil Cemil.
His ancestor kopuzca enîn,
Seven, eight-string order,
Both reproaches and You have
Tanbur;
Cemil Cemil,
Cemil Cemil.
He disappeared for fifty, sixty years,
What a shame, he was lost,
Now he has found his owner; { 5} Play the lavtan.
Cemil Cemil,
Cemil Cemil.
In the broadcast glazed voice,
the smoking composition in Âşiyân
Not now in the shiking;
Rebab groans; {5 } Cemil Cemil,
Cemil Cemil.
Large, black saz,
Söyler Hüseynî corpse,
For Pîr’s sake, what style is this?
Cello;
Cemil Cemil,
Cemil Cemil.
Kızıltuğ, how can he say it?
His language is doomed, what is it,
Let Bari be silent and listen;
Cemil Cemil,
} Cemil Cemil.
***
UŞŞAK
to Necdet Yaşar and İhsan Özgen
Gönül, sevda İçre gamlı,
The voice of the kemençe
is the system of the divine order
Aman Uşşak, Uşşak aman! …
} Time Uşşak, when Uşşak
Arms are opened to the skies,
Kevser wine is drunk,
Sweet souls are passed;
Devrân Uşşak, Uşşak devan.
Kızıltuğ listened,
groaned with heart and groaned;
Burned, smoked. It got cool…
Okay Uşşak, Uşşak okay!
News: Murat Okutmuş
