Annotated Survey of Douze Chants d'Anatolie of Cemal Reùit Rey

This dissertation examines Douze chants d'Anatolie (Twelve Anatolian Songs), a complete art song set and one of the first mature works of Turkish composer Cemal Reşit Rey. The songs of Douze chants d'Anatolie are some of the first examples in the genre of native westernized art song in Turkey. The primary focus of this document is to serve as a musical companion or guide to the performer, demonstrating subtleties of text-setting, expression, mood, atmosphere, harmony, and polyphony of the songs as a means of making this work approachable to the English-speaking musician. Douze chants d'Anatolie stands as the first true song set from Turkey, and this document will also provide evidence that this work was one of the first to embrace the artistic reforms of Turkish leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who urged young composers to utilize Turkish folkloric trends and atmosphere within Western form, structure, and harmonic palette. An exploration into the translation, as well as the poetic and historic context of the anonymous folk song poetry will seek to help Western audiences shape a clearer understanding of the subtle nuances and veiled meanings often implied, but not explicitly stated in the words. A selected musical analysis of the composer's setting of the poetry will characterize the work as being based within the French mélodie and Impressionism traditions in which the composer was educated, but idiosyncratic elements of the Turkish folk music traditions present in the score will also be surveyed and discussed.