Sadettin Heper

Sadettin Heper (1899–1980) was a composer of Turkish music considered as an important link to the world of Turkish Mevlevi music before the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. He was born in the Eyüp neighborhood of Istanbul as the son of Halit Efendi and Zehra Hanim. Until the religious venues where the Mevlevis practiced were closed in 1924 due to the prevailing secular ideology, he played the kudüm, a percussion instrument, in Mevlevi religious ceremonies. Later, he worked for the Istanbul Municipality Conservatory. He regularly performed on the kudüm drum at ceremonies commemorating Mevlana in Konya when the government lifted the restrictions for these occasions. He published a complete set of Mevlevi ayin (music and words...