Tigran Tchouhadjian (; ; 1837 – March 11, 1898) was an Ottoman Armenian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and conductor, and the founder of the first opera institution in 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 ...

Biography

Tchouhadjian was born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He studied at composer Gabriel Yeranian's class, then had classes in

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. Along with other

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n intellectuals of that period he fought for the development of national culture, organized Armenian musical societies, theatres, schools, papers and free concerts. In 1862, he took over publication of the Armenian musical journal '' Armenian Lyre''.In his works, Tchouhadjian used the elements of European musical techniques and eastern music elements He is an author of pieces for piano, songs and romances, chamber and symphonic works, operas. His most successful opera was Leblebici hor-hor agha (1875), it was premiered at the French Theatre in Constantinople, it was so successful that during the season it was performed more than hundred times and during the month Ramadan it was performed every single night (''Zemire'', 1890) etc. He died in Smyrna (now

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

). Chukhajian is buried in the Armenian cemetery of İzmir. He created the first Armenian opera, '' Arshak II'' (1868, partially staged in 1873), based on the historical figure King Arsaces II (Arshak II).Arshak II was banned because of its potential political ramifications. Nevertheless, Tchouhadjian changed some of the scenes and managed to convince Naum to allow the opera to be performed in his theatre by an Italian opera group known as Olimpia. The score was considered lost, but was discovered in 1942 and performed in 1945 in a revised version at the Armenian Opera Theater opera theater in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. ''Arshak II'' continued in the repertoire of the Yerevan Opera Theater. In 2001, it was staged at the

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

. Tchouhadjian is also remembered as the composer of what may have been the first original opera in Turkish, '' Arif'in Hilesi'' (Arif's Deception), based on

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

's ''

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'' .The opera caused a conflict between Chouhajian and Gullu Agop whether it was a vaudeville or opera. It was performed in the Gedikpaşa theatre.Karadağlı, Özgecan. ''Türkiye’ye Müzikli Sahne Sanatlarının Girişi Dikran Çuhacıyan Öncesi ve Sonrası.'' İstanbul: Unpublished Master's Thesis, 2003. Now some people that are part of his family is the Jokhagian family after the genocide the family speared out!

Selected compositions

Operas

* '' Arshak II (opera)'' (1868) * ''Arif'in Hilesi'' (1874) *'' Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha'' (1875) * ''Zemire'' (1890) * ''Indiana'' (1897)

Solo Piano Works

* Mouvement Perpetuel * Cascade de couz * Illusion * Apres La Gavotte * Deux Fantaisies Orientales * La Lyre Orientale, Laura * Rapelle-tois * Romans * Impromptu in B Flat Minor ‘Cascade De Couz’ (1887) * Danse Caractéristique in a minor ‘L’orientale’ (1891) * Grande Valse Fantastique in a minor ‘Illusions’ (1888) * Tarantelle in b-flat minor (1887) * Caprice in e minor ‘La Lyre Orientale’ (1894) * Mazurka De Salon ‘Mignon’ (1887) * Une Gavotte De Plus in E-flat Major (1883) * Polka in F Major ‘La Gaité’ (1892) * Proti Polka in G Major (1892) * Funeral March in d minor (1884) * Fantaisie Orientale No. 1 in A Minor ‘Sur des Motifs Turcs’ (1895) * Fantaisie Orientale No. 2 in A Minor ‘Sur des Motifs Turcs’ (1895)

References

Bibliography

* * Karadagli, Ozgecan. “From Empire to Republic: Western Art Music, Nationalism, and the Merging Mediation of Saygun’s Op.26 Yunus Emre Oratorio.” ''University of Alberta Libraries'', 2017. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3FQ9QK4S. * Karadagli, Ozgecan. 2003. “Türkiye’ye Müzikli Sahne Sanatlarının Girisi Dikran Çuhacıyan Öncesi ve Sonrasi. Istanbul: Unpublished Master's Thesis. * Karadagli, O. (2020). Western Performing Arts in the Late Ottoman Empire: Accommodation and Formation. ''Context, 46'', 17-33.

External links

Chukhajian – Arsaces II – Aram Katanyan
(recording of the opera)
In the Footsteps of Tchouhadjian
— documentary film about Chukhajian {{DEFAULTSORT:Chukhajian, Tigran Gevorki 1837 births 1898 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century conductors (music) Armenian conductors (music) Armenian opera composers Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Composers from the Ottoman Empire Male opera composers Musicians from Istanbul Opera in Turkey Romantic composers 19th-century male musicians