GENDARMERIE BAND
HISTORY
Polyphonic music in our country started with the establishment of the'' Mizika-i Humayun '' (Military Band of the Ottoman Empire) in 1826 by Sultan Mahmut II, who believed that military Bands -like in Europe- were necessary for the Military.
Italian Guiseppe DONIZETTI (Pasha) was brought to Istanbul on 17 September 1827 in order to establish Military Bands in line with the western standards and he was charged as '' The General Instructor of the Military Bands of the Ottoman Empire ''. The Mizika-i Humayun participated in the state ceremonies; furthermore, on 23 November 1831, the Military Band School was inaugurated in order to train the performers of the other Bands.
The historical development of the Band of the General Gendarmerie Command dates back to the Ottoman Empire. Paul LANGE, who was charged as the chief of the ERTUĞRUL MIZIKASI (Ertuğrul Band) in the navy, led the Gendarme Band in Yıldız, ISTANBUL on several days of week.
After the declaration of the Republic, Yavuz and Ertuğrul Bands were combined and named Deniz Mizikasi for the navy. After 1930 some elements (especially band chiefs) were transferred to the Army forces and Gendarmerie Bands, which had been and were being established. As a result, Captain Mustafa CAYIROGLU from the Military Band of Navy was appointed to the Gendarmerie Organization in order to establish the Band in Ankara on 17 October 1932. The Band performed here for a long time and afterwards it was relocated at the Anıttepe Post. It has been performing works in the General Esref Bitlis Güvercinlik Post as of 1967.
THE GENDARME BAND TODAY
The Biography of the Conductor
He was born in Eskisehir, TURKEY 1961. He started his musical training in the Military Band School in 1975 after which he attended Ankara State Conservatory. During the conservatory years, he received harmony lessons from Prof. Muzaffer ARIKAN and Assoc. Prof. Istemihan TAVILOGLU; Piano lessons from Assoc. Prof. Nimet KARATEKIN; Trumpet lessons from Assoc. Prof. Mehmet ERTEN and orchestral conductorship lessons from Assoc. Prof. Sebahattin KALENDER. Following his graduation from the conservatory in 1982, he was appointed as the deputy commander of the Band Of Gendarmerie General Command and later as the Squadron commander in various detachments.
Major YILMAZ joined the international conductors course, Rotterdam-HOLLAND where he worked with renowned orchestral conductors i.e. Jacques Van STEEN of chamber orchestra, Arie Van BEEK of fanfare orchestra and conductor PIJER of the harmonically orchestra and successfully completed the course in 1994. Suat YILMAZ obtained an MA from the Faculty of Musical Edition in Gazi University of TURKEY...
Personnel Resources
1Performers of the Band of the Gendarmerie General Command, which was established in 1932 by Mustafa CAYIROGLU together with 8 privates, performed its task until 1939 by making use of other units. Musicians were obtained from the Secondary School for the Preparation of Petty Officers, which was established in 1939. However, the number of the musicians coming from this school was not enough to meet the personnel requirement for the band; therefore, the trained musicians from the people who had completed compulsory military service as privates and the attendants of the Air Force Band courses were taken. Since 1964, the personnel requirement of Gendarme has been met by taking musicians from the Turkish Armed Forces NCO Musicians Preparation and Branch School. The name of the school was changed to Turkish Armed Forces Band Schools Command in 2003 and the school was made into a vocational high school beginning with the academic year of 2005-2006, the total duration of education was increased up to 6 years with the preparation section increased to 4 years and the higher school to 2 years.
Turkish Armed Forces Band Schools Command is also used as a source of band Conductors for the Armed forces. Students who prove successful in the NCO Preparation School and have special abilities are trained at the conservatory for 4 years to become conductors for the Gendarmerie Bands.
Following the Gendarmerie General Command 2003 contracted recruitment of woman NCOs The contracted personnel in possession of the required conditions will be employed in our contracted personnel band.
Activities
The Band of General Command of Gendarme performs its duty at the welcome ceremony, departure ceremony, and take-over closing ceremonies planned by the Garrison Command in the name of the Joint staff. It also performs its duty during ceremonies prepared for National festivals.
The Preparation of the Band for duties is best carried out the technical, individual and team works of musicians and by making symphonic sound recording.
Domestic Concerts
Band of General Command of Gendarme besides state ceremonies performs at home performances and concerts.
Concerts Abroad
They were invited to military band festivals in Kiel of Germany in 1968,in Kromerize of the Czech Republic in 1997 and in Krakow of Poland in 1998 and 2000, and it gave concerts there. It has made great contributions to the advertisement of Turkey abroad.
21 bands in total from England, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, Russia and Poland participated in the festival that was hold in the Polish cities of Krakow and Katovice between 8-12 June 2000. The Gendarmerie Band was selected the "Star of the festival" due to its discipline, tonality, and the coherence of its choreography.
The FIEP Band, which is a mixture of the bands of the FIEP member states (France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Morocco and Turkey), performed shows in the 2002 Breda Military Bands Festival hosted by Holland.
Choreography
The Gendarmerie General Command, which is at the level of symphonic band, enjoys great public interest in home and abroad duties by embellishing Turkish music with choreographic actions.
Cassette and CD
The first CD and cassette work in the history of Turkish Band Music ("Turkish Marches") was realized following the order of the General Commander Teoman KOMAN in1996. The album named "Ezgiler" (Melodies) was released in 1999.
The first "Turkish Marches" with lyrics was released in 2000 with the contributions of the favorite pop stars of Turkey like Levent YÜKSEL, Ercan SAATÇI, Metin ÖZÜLKÜ, Ufuk Yıldırım, Çelik ERIŞÇI, Volkan KONAK, Mirkelam, Hande YENER and Grup DÜŞ.
All the income acquired from the sales of the album is donated to the Gendarmerie Public Security Foundation and it can still be purchased from the music shops.
Repertoire
The Band has a rich repertoire which includes foreign, Turkish and National marches, serenades, suites, preludes, polkas, intermezzos, romances, symphonies, operas, overtures, concertos, solo works and arrangement and potpourris in the style of Turkish Folk Music, waltzes, dances, orchestra works and little works. Due to the common usage of computers nowadays and continuous innovation, the arrangements of all work are made and as a continuous follower of the age music work are performed.
The Turkish National Anthem