COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS

TANBURİ CEMİL BEY

Tanburi Cemil Bey was born in Istanbul in 1873. Though he was hard-working, well-behaved quiet as a child, he had a passion for music which at the time was considered dangerous. His first musical instrument was his older brother's tanbur. His quick progress on the tanbur, and his interest in other Turkish instruments quickly launched him to fame. The taksims and instrumental works on the discs he recorded are of masterpiece quality. Apart from his composition and performance, he had a rather lackluster personality. But he left us a great number of works in many different forms. He died in 1916.