Tonin Harapi

Tonin Harapi (9 June 1926 – 30 July 1992) was an Albanian composer, pianist and teacher. He was one of the major figures of twentieth-century Albanian classical music and was associated with the first generations of professional Albanian composers trained after the Second World War.

Harapi was born in Shkodër, a city with a strong musical tradition, and later studied at the Artistic Lyceum of Tirana and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He became a professor of composition at the Conservatory of Tirana, where he trained later Albanian composers.

His output included opera, operetta, choral works, orchestral music, chamber music, piano pieces, romances, children’s songs and arrangements of folk songs.

Composer Thoma Simaku studied composition under Harapi at the State Conservatory of Music in Tirana. In a 2018 interview, Simaku recalled that Harapi had studied at the Moscow Conservatory and described him as a teacher who allowed students a degree of creative freedom despite the restrictions of the communist period.

Compositional work

Harapi composed in almost all the main genres cultivated in Albanian classical music during the socialist period. His works included the children's melodrama Kufitarët, the children's operetta Mësimi i pyllit, the children's tale Djali guximtar, the opera Zgjimi, 19 romances, instrumental works for orchestra and chamber music.

Piano music

Harapi's piano works form an important part of his output and have been recorded outside Albania. The album Këngë: Albanian Piano Music, Volume 1, performed by pianist Kirsten Johnson, includes seven short piano works by Harapi: Romance in A-flat major, Valle: andante con moto, Nji dhimbje e vogël ("A Little Pain"), Valle: allegro vivo, Romanze in A minor, Moll' e kuqe top sheqere ("A Candied Apple") and Waltz on a Popular Theme.

Johnson's second Albanian piano album, Rapsodi: Albanian Piano Music, Volume 2, includes Harapi's Sonatina, Këngë mbrëmje ("Evening Song") and Theme and Variations. Johnson describes Harapi as highly regarded in Albania and notes that his output includes operas, works for choir and orchestra, songs, a string quartet, a piano concerto and numerous solo piano pieces.

Recognition and legacy

Harapi received several prizes and titles during his career. He held the title Artist i Merituar ("Artist of Merit"), and after his death he was awarded the title People's Artist of Albania.

Since 2019, a concert hall at the "Jordan Misja" Artistic Lyceum in Tirana has carried Harapi's name.

Selected works

Kufitarët – children's melodrama Second Rhapsody – for piano and orchestra Requiem – for soloists, choir and orchestra Sonatina – for piano Theme and Variations – for piano Këngë mbrëmje – for piano Nji dhimbje e vogël – for piano Moll' e kuqe top sheqere – for piano Waltz on a Popular Theme – for piano

Discography

Këngë: Albanian Piano Music, Volume 1, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7257; includes Harapi's Romance in A-flat major, Valle: andante con moto, Nji dhimbje e vogël, Valle: allegro vivo, Romanze in A minor, Moll' e kuqe top sheqere and Waltz on a Popular Theme. Rapsodi: Albanian Piano Music, Volume 2, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7300; includes Harapi's Sonatina, Këngë mbrëmje and Theme and Variations. Albanian Piano Music, Marsida Koni, piano; includes Harapi's Ja gëzimi kthen përsëri.