Giuseppe Donizetti (6 November 1788 – 12 February 1856), also known as Donizetti

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...

, was an Italian musician. From 1828 he was Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

(1808–39). His younger brother was the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

composer Gaetano Donizetti. He studied music first with his uncle, Carini Donizetti, and, later, he was a pupil of Simone Mayr. After enlisting in Napoleon's army (1808), he served there as band leader. He took part in the campaigns against Austria and in Spain, and followed Napoleon to Elba. He was present at the Battle of Waterloo. After the fall of Napoleon, he continued his career as a bandmaster in the Savoy army. Donizetti Pasha as he was called in the Ottoman Empire, played a significant role in the introduction of European music to the

Ottoman military The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. Apart from overseeing the training of the European-style military bands of Mahmud's modern army, he taught music at the palace to the members of the Ottoman royal family, the princes and the ladies of the harem, is believed to have composed the first national anthem of the Ottoman Empire, supported the annual Italian opera season in Pera, organised concerts and operatic performances at court, and played host to a number of eminent virtuosi who visited Istanbul at the time, such as Franz Liszt, Parish Alvars and Leopold de Meyer. Although the elder Donizetti was born in Bergamo,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

İstanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

became a second home for him, and he lived there until his death in 1856. He is buried in the vaults of the St. Esprit Cathedral, near the Beyoğlu district of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, in Pera. Emre Araci published a comprehensive biography of Giuseppe Donizetti in Turkish in 2007.''Osmanli Sarayi'nin Italyan Maestrosu''
YKY Istanbul, 2007 The volume ''Giuseppe Donizetti Pasha: Musical and Historical Trajectories between Italy and Turkey'', edited by Federico Spinetti, was published in English and Italian by the Fondazione Donizetti in 2010.

References

Sources

* Ashbrook, William (1982), ''Donizetti and his Operas'', Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
The Musical Times: A Levantine life: Giuseppe Donizetti at the Ottoman court
* ''Giuseppe Donizetti Pasha: Musical and Historical Trajectories between Italy and Turkey / Giuseppe Donizetti Pascià: Traiettorie musicali e storiche tra Italia e Turchia.'' Edited by Federico Spinetti . Bergamo, Fondazione Donizetti, 2010. * Maurizio Costanza, ''La Mezzaluna sul filo - La riforma ottomana di Mahmud II'', Marcianumpress, Venezia 2010. *Weinstock, Herbert (1963), ''Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', New York: Random House. 1856 deaths 19th-century Italian musicians Musicians from the Ottoman Empire Italian Levantines Pashas 1788 births 19th-century Italian male musicians {{Italy-music-bio-stub