THE “NEY” PLAYER OF THE PRESIDENCY FASIL MUSIC GROUP, MR BURAHNETTİN
ÖKTE’S MEMORIES
Note: We had a very close friendship with Burhanettin Ökte. I heard some of
his memories, which he had he noted down during his membership in Atatürk’s
Music Society of Fasıl, from himself. I mention some of his memories with
regards, benefiting from his articles in music magazines and bringing them
together.
One night, we were in Mr. Celal Bayar’s house. He was the General Manager of
Turkiye İş Bank. There was a wedding reception of Mr. Celal Bayar’s brother in
law Mr. Muhtar. We were playing joyful parts in a freindly atmosphere. It was
nearly about midnight. They said the Pasha was coming.
Really, Atatürk came with some other guests. The joy of the society increased
greatly. Everybody felt a great happiness. The Fasıl Music Group was playing
continuously one song after another. In the mean time, we were playing the
composition of “Darüssıla” of Mr. Ali Rıfak. Atatürk shown great interested in
the lyrics and the composition of this marvellous work.
Süleymen Nazif had written the lyrics during his captivity in Malta. A lady
told us about a song when Atatürk pointed out that there were few songs on the
subject of captivity. If I am not mistaken, it was the work of Kaptan Zade Ali
Rıza. Atatürk wanted to listen to the composition sung by the voice of the lady
and said to me:
- Please accompany the lady.
The lady started to sing the composition that I had never heard before. The
musicians could easily be expected to accompany an unknown composition with an
instrument such the “Ney” (a long flute).
Surely, the only thing I could do was to play the parts I could guess at as
well as possible. That probably made him nervous and he scolded me. I was
ashamed. The lady was also sorry, for being the cause of a difficult situation
for me.
We played other compositions...