Turkish composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun was born in 1907. His father was a teacher of mathematics and a scholar of religions. The little Saygun went to school at the age of four. His musical talent became apparent quite early, moreover, he was extremely interested in maths and literature as well. He learnt the basics of orchestration and composition from books by himself. Playing the piano was his passion for years. At the age of 13 he was earning money by playing in a movie theather. His second piano teacher was Hungarian. He was a real apostle of the nations uniting in brotherhood. He was a good friend of Béla Bartók, who considered him the most suitable to be his predecessor. They agreed that Hungarian and Turkish tunes were not just copies of each other but variations of a theme. His wife, Irén Szalai was a talented artist. Source: László Tusnády: Ahmed Adnan Saygun was born a hundred years ago