COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS

ABDÜLKADİR NASIR DEDE

Abdülbaki Nasir Dede (1765-1871) was a Turkish musicologist and composer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in 1765 in a house near the Mevlevîhane in the Yenikapi district. His father Kütahyali Ebu Bekir Dede Efendi (1705-1775) was one of the sheikhs of the Yenikapi Mevlevîhane; his mother Sâide Hanim was a daughter of Kutb-i Nayî Seyh Osman Dede. He had an older brother, Ali Nutkî Dede, and a younger brother, Abrürrahim Künhî Dede. Abdülbaki Dede learned Arabic and Persian, then studied Turkish music theory and practice. He became a very valuable teacher of music and passed his knowledge onto many students.

In his theory book, "Tedkiyk u Tahkiyk" (Investigation and Verification), written in 1794 at the order of Selim III, he presents 136 makams and 21 usuls, with short explanations. Writing with the pen name Nâsir, he composed a work, "Dîvan-i Es'ar," with over 3000 verses.