The Ankara Years of Bülent Arel (1940-1965): Music, Radio and Politics

Abstract

This article examines the parallels between the political and cultural changes in Turkey in the aftermath of Second World War, as well as the education and career of Bülent Arel, a second generation composer of the young Republic, in Ankara between the years 1940-1965. The introduction of classical music into the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, and its adoption as a keystone of the cultural policies of the early Republic, led to the state dominating the music sphere as part of the efforts within single-party rule in these early years to build a nation-state. Unlike their professors at the State Conservatory, Arel and his contemporaries were members of the first generation raised in the institutions created by the Republic. With their open-mindedness and universalism, this generation has left its mark on the cultural and social life of Ankara and Turkey, despite the balances of power and cultural approaches shifting with the transition into the multi-party system in the 1950s. The main foci of the study are therefore the transformation of public institutions, such as the radio and universities that Arel worked in, as well as his work in the development of civilian art initiatives.

Keywords

• bülent arel
• ankara
• electronic music
• classical music
• modernism
• universality
• radio
• metu