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

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

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

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

(). He was replaced by Guatelli Pasha after his death. His younger brother was the

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composer

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

. He studied music first with his uncle, Carini Donizetti, and, later, he was a pupil of Simone Mayr. After enlisting in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

'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

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. After the fall of Napoleon, he continued his career as a bandmaster in the

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army. A few years later, he was invited to serve the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

by Giovanni Timoteo Calosso, a fellow

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n. 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 () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

. 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 Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

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 Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, Parish Alvars and Leopold de Meyer. Although the elder Donizetti was born in

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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 Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

district of Istanbul, in Pera. Emre Aracı 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. 1788 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Italian musicians 19th-century composers from the Ottoman Empire Italian Levantines Pashas 19th-century Italian male musicians {{Italy-music-bio-stub