History of Tango in Turkey
Tango came into Turkey first by 78 rpm stone records (like the vinyl records, but the material is as tough as stone, and the player requires a special head to resolve the tracks of the record). In addition to the recordings in Istanbul through gramophone, and stone record market, which was quite dynamic then, the availability had been increased by the imports from Europe. That was why Turkish public knew the European Tango at the beginning.
The young Turkish Republic was prone to the new European life styles, and then was time when the distinction between the man and woman faded out. Tango was the symbol of the era.
The reformist composers had started to produce polyphonic music, operetta, duet. The first Turkish Tango, Mazi (The Past), was composed by Necip Celal Andel in 1928, and recorded in 1932. The singer was Seyyan Hanim (*) (Oskay).
Although Mazi is accepted as the first Turkish Tango we should clarify some points; The song "Tango Turk" that was composed by Muhlis Sabahattin Bey (*) was released from "His Master's Voice", and it is registered in their catalogue of 1928 with the key AX 467. Tango Turk was recorded without vocals.
In addition, "Gul Tango (Tango Rose)", "Sivekar (Coquettish)", "Sevda (Passion)", were sung by Afife Hanim, one of the soloists from Operetta Sureyya, and recorded around 1930. These songs were from European composers but sung in Turkish.
Stone recordings witness that "Tango Turk" is the first purely instrumental Turkish Tango, and "Mazi" is the first Turkish Tango with vocals.
After Necip Celal, there came Fehmi Ege, Mustafa Sükrü, Kadri Cerrahoglu, Necdet Koyuturk, and the other composers. Theme covered love, passion, disappointment, nostalgia, separation, etc. Music was also inspired by the wide traditional effects.
Celal Ince, Secaattin Tanyerli, Birsen Alsan, Ibrahim Ozgur, Mefharet Atalay, Birsen Hanim, Afife Hanim, Saime Sengul, Nezahat Onaner, Zehra Eren are some of the Turkish Tango soloists.
Orhan Avsar, the first bandoneonist from Turkey, has a very distinct role in Turkish Tango history stemming from his outstanding efforts in Turkey on behalf of Tango.
(*) Hanim and Bey are very popular Turkish
words to address women and men, respectively, in a warm, and respectful manner
