Nicol Galanderian Nicol Galanderian ( hy, Նիկոլ Գասպարի Գալանդերյան; also Nikol Kalanderian; September 7, 1881 – March 2, 1944) was a noted composer of

Armenian music The music of Armenia ( hy, հայկական երաժշտություն ''haykakan yerazhshtut’yun'') has its origins in the Armenian highlands, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and is a long-standing musical tradition that encompasse ...

known for vocal, choral and children's works with a compositional basis of folk music and urban folksong.

Life and career

Born 7 September 1881 in Akn, historical Armenia – present-day

Kemaliye Kemaliye (formerly Eğin) ( hy, Ակն, Romanized Old Armenian: ''Akn'', meaning "spring") is both a town in and one of the nine districts of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The town is known for its historic architect ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

– to a shoemaker's family, Nicol Galanderian lost most of his family in the Turkish massacres of 1894-96. Galanderian, his mother Eva and a brother survived and settled in Eastern Armenia. In 1900 Galanderian began studies under the noted Armenian composer

Komitas Vardapet Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...

at the Gevorgian Seminary. He studied with Komitas for two years, becoming familiar with Armenian church music and the Armenian notational system. Afterwards, Galanderian studied the violin and guitar on his own and continued to explore music theory. In 1910, he accepted a teaching position in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and in 1911 began his composing career with his first composition based on a text of

Avetik Isahakyan Avetik Sahak Isahakyan ( hy, Ավետիք Սահակ Իսահակյան; October 30, 1875 – October 17, 1957) was a prominent Armenian lyric poet, writer and public activist. Biography Isahakyan was born in Alexandropol in 1875. He was educ ...

''Yerger ou verker'' ("Songs and Wounds"). With the recognition of his work came an invitation to teach at the Haykazian School (now Davtian School) in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where he lived and composed the rest of this life. In Tehran, he organized and conducted the "Goghtan" choir, an Armenian choir that performed many of his works. In 1913 he wrote a children's opera and, beginning in 1924, many other compositions for children. Many of his works draw upon Armenian poetry and writings. His works draw upon the poetry of

Vahan Terian Vahan Terian (; February 9, 1885 – January 7, 1920) was an Armenian poet, lyrist and public activist. He is known for his sorrowful, romantic poems, the most famous of which are still read and sung in their musical versions. Biography ...

, Hovhannes Toumanian,

and others. His work includes the operas ''Parvana'' (a lake in Georgia), ''Hovik'' ("Breeze") and ''Lalvari vors'' ("Lalvar's Prey"). His compositions and manuscripts are in the archives of the State Museum of Art and Literature in

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

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. Galanderian continued his career until his death on 2 March 1944, in Tehran.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galanderian, Nicol 1944 deaths 1881 births Armenian composers Iranian people of Armenian descent Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Iran Iranian composers People from Kemaliye