Abstract:

Atatürk made a revolution in the art of music for the development of Turkish music, reaching universal dimensions and for the adoption of polyphonic music to the Turkish people. In the 1930s, when nationalism was the rising value, he took nationalism as a basis not only in politics but also in art, especially in music. The press, thinkers and journalists of the period also contributed to the process by writing articles that brought the issue of nationality to the agenda. However, these studies brought with them an alaturca-alafranga debate in music. The controversy that started with the closure of the Turkish Music Department in Darülelhan in 1926 became even more intense with the ban on playing and singing Turkish Classical Music on the radios in November 2, 1934. Some interviews were published in the newspapers to support the ban. Even a national music competition was organized by Cumhuriyet newspaper in order to find support for the music revolution among the readers. This competition, which we know was organized with Atatürk's directives, was announced to the readers for the first time on 27 December 1934. Many poets and composers participated in this lyrics and composition competition, which the newspaper describes as "a great attempt to find our national voice". As a result of the competition held between January 1 and May 15, 1935, many awards were distributed to the winners and readers. The aim of this study is to contribute to our music history by revealing the purpose, details and results of the first national music competition held after the ban on Turkish music.

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