1917 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original sheet music. Folio. (35 x 25 cm). In Ottoman script. [4] p., scores. [SHEET MUSIC] Sedarabân Mürebb' Zincir ikâ'inda. Darü'l-Elhan Külliyati No. 1. Darülelhan (The House of Melodies) is not a real publishinghouse but a music school established at 10 January 1917, in Istanbul. The principle aim in the establishment of this school was to follow a scientific way in the education and teaching of musical arts, and introduce the old pieces by printing them. Some courses on Turkish and Western music should be given in a course of four years. This school closed in the days of Independence War and reopened by the attempts of Haydar Beg the mayor of Istanbul in 1923. On this publications, it's written usually "Our establishment started to publish the beautiful pieces inhereted from the most famous Turkish composers in order to conserve them. These publications are checked by a scientifically responsible council and found ass quite correct. Up to now, the pieces contining Setarabân, Mâye, Evç-ârâ, Acem Asirân, Müste'ar, Nevâ, Gulizâr, Beyâti, Mâhur, Ferâhfezâ, Ferâhnâk, Nev-eser, Nühüft and Arazbâr Buselik tones, havng the number 72 have already been put on sale for 5 Kurus at the magazine of Samli Iskender in Bayezid Square". (Source: Music publications from Ottoman Empire up to today, 1876-1986.; ALANER, BÜLENT). Haci Sadullah Aga was a composer and performer. He was the son of Hafiz Kerim Efendi, one of the muezzins of Fatih Mosque, and was one of the greatest composers of the reign of Sultan Selim III. In some sources, the information regarding his life have been jumbled together with other namesake composers of his era. Some of his works may have been confused with those of other namesake composers. Therefore, information regarding his life is not precise. As far as it is known, after his first education, he was accepted to Enderun Mektebi (The Palace School in which the devshirmeh [T.N. selected for the army] children were educated) and he was educated in literature and history and gained skill in javelin, Indian club and horse riding. He had served in the Russo-Turkish War in 1767. It is said that he received great attention from Selim III because he had a beautiful voice and he was a master singer (vocalist) and that he was the head of the fasil committee of the sultan for some time. Sadullah Aga, who is accepted as the most powerful composer of the school of Selim III, was also the 'musahib' (talk friend) of the sultan and later he became the head 'musahib'. He was an eloquent and cheerful person with a nice personality. He served as a music teacher at Enderun and served at the Palace during the reign of Mahmud II. Sadullah Agha followed the footsteps of Itrî and under the influence of Itrî he had integrated lyricism to his compositions, which are considered to be among the greatest pieces of the classical repertoire. He developed a style that is pertinent to classical rules but is more lyrical. His influence on all composers of his period can be seen. Around thirty works of Haci Sadullah Aga, who had composed hundreds of works, has reached the present day. Compositions and 'semaî' are dominant among these works. All of these works are secular and mostly literal works. His works contain a high level of lyricism and musicality. Especially all of his works that formed the 'Bayati-Araban' set are among the most beautiful examples of the classical music repertoire. Sadullah Aga, who is among the elite composers of Classical Turkish music, lived his last years by secluding to the residence given to him seven years before his death by the sultan and died at the age of seventy eight. He has many great songs in various tones. Darülelhan published 121 scores before 1928, this is the first one. Özege 3585. Not in OCLC. Extremely rare.
