DIKRAN TCHOUHADJIAN’S OPERA KEUSSE KEHYA

Abstract

DIKRAN TCHOUHADJIAN’S OPERA KEUSSE KEHYA The classic of Armenian music, founder of Armenian musical theater, composer, pianist, conductor, pedagogue, musical and public figure Dikran Tchouhadjian (1837-1898) takes a special place in the history of Armenian music. During his lifetime, Tchouhadjian had already become a pan-Oriental phenomenon. He was justly nicknamed “Armenian Verdi” and “Turkey’s Offenbach”. Tchouhadjian was the first among the composers of the East, who, having received a professional musical education and mastered the secrets of the European composing technique to perfection, found ways to bring closer Western and Eastern music cultures, embedded the genres of opera, symphony and chamber music into Eastern culture. Dikran Tchouhadjian is the originator of Near-Eastern musical theater. He put together the Ottoman opera troupe in Constantinople, which was the first such group throughout the Near East. Along with operas by Western European composers, they staged Tchouhadjian’s comic operas Arif, Keusse Kehya, Leblebiji Hor-Hor Agha in the cities across and beyond the Ottoman Empire. Tchouhadjian’s mentioned works were written and produced in Turkish.The goal of our research is, for the first time in Tchouhadjian studies, to present to English-language readers the results of the comprehensive analysis of the opera Keusse Kehya, to substantiate the latter’s genre definition as a comic opera, to shed light on the specific features of its musical language and dramaturgy.

Keywords

• Dikran Tchouhadjian
• Keusse Kehya
• Garegin Rshtuni
• Ottoman Empire
• “Armenian Verdi”
• “Turkey’s Offenbach”
• Constantinople.

DIKRAN ÇUHACIYAN’IN “KÖSE KÂHYA” OPERASI

Öz

Ermeni müziğinin klasiği, Ermeni müzikal tiyatrosunun kurucusu, besteci, piyanist, orkestra şefi, pedagog, müzik ve toplum adamı Dikran Çuhaciyan (1837-1898) Ermeni müzik tarihinde özel bir yere sahiptir. Yaşadığı dönemde Çuhaciyan çoktan bir pan-Oryantal fenomen haline gelmişti. Kendisine haklı olarak “Ermeni Verdi” ve “Türk Offenbach” lakapları takılmıştı. Çuhaciyan, profesyonel bir müzik eğitimi almış ve Avrupa beste tekniğinin sırlarına mükemmel bir şekilde hakim olmuş, Batı ve Doğu müzik kültürlerini yakınlaştırmanın yollarını bulmuş, opera, senfoni ve oda müziği türlerini Doğu kültürüne yerleştirmiş Doğu bestecileri arasında bir ilktir. Dikran Çuhaciyan Yakın Doğu müzikal tiyatrosunun yaratıcısıdır. İstanbul'da kurduğu Osmanlı opera topluluğu, Yakın Doğu'da bu türden ilk topluluktur. Batı Avrupalı bestecilerin operalarının yanı sıra, Çuhaciyan'ın komik operaları “Arif”, “Köse Kâhya”, “Leblebici Horhor Ağa” Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun dört bir yanındaki ve ötesindeki şehirlerde sahnelediler. Çuhaciyan’ın söz konusu eserleri Türkçe olarak yazılmış ve üretilmiştir. Araştırmamızın amacı, Çuhaciyan çalışmalarıçalışmalarında ilk kez, “Köse Kâhya” operasının kapsamlı analizinin sonuçlarını İngilizce okuyuculara sunmak, bu operanın komik opera olarak tür tanımını doğrulamak, müzikal dilinin ve dramaturjisinin belirli özelliklerine ışık tutmaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dikran Çuhaciyan
• “Köse Kâhya”
• Karekin Rışduni
• Osmanlı İmparatorluğu
• “Ermeni Verdi”
• “Türk Offenbach”
• Konstantinopolis.

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