Haci Arif Bey

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Haci Arif Bey (1831-1885) was a Turkish composer from Istanbul, most known for his compositions in the Şarkı form, the most common secular form in Turkish classical music. He was a very prolific composer, who on some days, composed more than 6-7 songs.

He was born in the Eyüp district of Istanbul. He was taught by the famous Dede Efendi. After Sultan AbdulMecit I became aware of his beautiful voice, he was admitted to the Muzika-yi Humayun, which was the Imperial Military Music School in the Ottoman Empire. Due to his closeness to the Sultan, he was responsible for teaching music to the women in the harem. He fell in love with one of the concubines, Çeşm-i Dilber, and had two children with her. He composed several songs after she left him for a merchant. His next wife from the harem also met with a tragic death from tuberculosis, also a cause for several songs by Arif Bey. He was elected the head singer in the palace, and married a third time with Nigârnik Hanım, and stayed with her until his death.

Toward the end of his life, Haci Arif Bey had a fall out with the emperor Abdul Hamid II at the time, and was jailed for about 50 days. While there, he composed several songs, which was later appreciated by Abdul Hamid II, and he was forgiven. He taught at the Imperial Music School for the rest of his life.