(b Istanbul, 1899; d Istanbul, 27 April 1981). Turkish vocalist. He reformed Turkish vocal performance by adopting the performance practices, educational principles and aesthetic values of Western art music. Responding to a contemporary concern for revolutionary cultural change in the newly-founded Turkish Republic, established in 1923, he adapted his art to suit the westernizing sensibilities of Republican taste while maintaining a link with tradition by continuing an ancient line of oral transmission (silsile) from the Ottoman past. He was initially trained in the historic manner of vocal instruction (meşk), but subsequently shunned the melismatic character, nasal timbre and chest register of traditional practice. In doing so, he revolutionized Turkish vocal performance by appropriating the technical tools of Western practice and by presenting his new style in a concert setting (after 1930). In this matter he was principally aided by the recording industry, most notably by HMV, whose artistic sponsorship, marketing infrastructure and technical expertise allowed him to disseminate his musical innovations to an expanding bourgeois audience. In his professional career, which extended over 60 years, Selçuk acted as a choral director, a recording artist, a vocal instructor and, most significantly, a concert performer. He is also recognized for his work as a composer, film actor and radio artist.
See also Turkey, §5(i).
M. Rona: Münir Nurettin Selçuk, 20. yüzyıl Türk musıkisi: bestekarları ve besteleri güftelerile (Istanbul, 1970), 4714
M. Özalp: Münir Nurettin Selçuk, Türk musikisi tarihi, ii (Ankara, 1986), 12835
Y. Öztuna: Selçuk, Mehmed Münir Nûrettin, Büyük Türk mûsikîsi ansiklopedesi, ii (Ankara, 1990), 2747
A. Kulin: Bir tatlı huzur: fotoğraflarla Münir Nureddin Selçukun yaşam öyküsü [A sweet repose: the life story of Selçuk with photographs] (Istanbul, 1996)
J.M. O'Connell: Alaturka Revisited: Style as History in Turkish Vocal Performance (diss., UCLA, 1996)
Ey gamze söyle zahm-ı dilimden, zebânım ol, Polydor v43325 5392ar (1927)
Bahar olsa, çemen-zâr olsa, âlem handedâr olsa, HMV FE6 18-212373 (1928)
Lal olursun söylesem bir fikra tâb-î sîneden, HMV FF2 2-012214 (1934)
JOHN MORGAN O'CONNELL