Müren, Zeki

(b Bursa, 6 Dec 1933; d 24 Sept 1996). Turkish composer, singer and film star. After completing his higher education at the Boğaziçi lycée, he took classes from Serif İçli and Refik Fersan and enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy in Istanbul. He first came to public attention through his radio concerts in the early 1950s as an interpreter of contemporary Turkish art music, although his repertory also covered Turkish versions of tango, chanson and the work of Arab singers such as Umm Kulthum and Farīd al Atrash (notably his version of the latter’s Zennübe). His voice, with its dramatic expressive qualities, was initially likened to that of Müzeyyen Senar, but the clarity and somewhat elevated nature of his sung Turkish marked a distinct and exceptional vocal style, which was one of the first in Turkey to make full use of the expressive potential of the microphone. In recognition of these qualities Müren was quickly nicknamed Sanat Güneşi (‘Sun of Art’), a title he bore until his death. His career was marked by his appearance in some 18 musical films, from Beklenen şarkı in 1953 to Rüya gibi in 1971, and by his live performances in Istanbul’s gazino clubs, characterized by their elaborate décor and Müren’s increasingly camp costumery. Müren’s partnership with the composer Muzaffer Özpınar led him to embrace arabesk. His 1979 recording of Kahır mektubu, to music composed by Özpınar, filled an entire LP and was directly inspired by Umm Kulthum’s later style.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

M. Rona: Yirminci yüzyıl türk musikisi (Istanbul, 1970)

N. Güngör: Sosyokültürel açıdan arabesk müsik (Ankara, 1990)

Kahır mektubu, perf. Zeki Müren, Türküola CD 201 (1991)

Türk sanat müziği konseri, perf. Zeki Müren, Coşkun Sahibin Sesi 93.34.Ü.044.005 (1993)

MARTIN STOKES