Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim,
Hebrew: פאול בן חיים) (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli
composer. Born Paul Frankenburger in
Munich,
Germany, he studied composition with
Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor to
Bruno Walter and
Hans Knappertsbusch from 1920 to 1924. He served as conductor at
Augsburg from 1924 to 1931, and afterwards devoted himself to teaching and composition, including teaching at the
Shulamit Conservatory in
Tel Aviv, Israel.[1]
Ben-Haim emigrated to the then
British Mandate of Palestine in 1933 and lived in Tel Aviv, near
Zina Dizengoff Square.[2] He Hebraized his name, becoming an Israeli citizen upon that nation's independence in 1948. He composed chamber music, works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments, and songs. He championed a specifically
Jewish national music: his own compositions are in a late Romantic vein with
Middle Eastern overtones, somewhat similar to
Ernest Bloch.[3]
Cello Concerto (1962),
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Łukasz Borowicz. CPO.
Clarinet Quintet, Two Landscapes, Canzonetta, Improvisation and Dance, Piano Quartet. ARC Ensemble. Chandos
Concerto for Strings, Pastoral Variée for clarinet, harp and string orchestra Op 31b (1945 arr. 1962), Three Songs without Words (1952), Music for Strings (1955/56).
Talia Or (soprano), Bettins Aust (clarinet), Christine Steinbrecher (harp), Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, conductor Gabriel Adorján. AVI-MUSIC 8553497 (2022)[6]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Ben-Haim.
Hadassah Guttmann, The Music of Paul Ben-Haim: A Performance Guide London: Scarecrow Press, 1992
Jehoash Hirshberg, Paul Ben-Haim: His Life and Works. Second English edition, edited by Paul Landau. Tel Aviv: Israel Music Institute, 2010.
Ronit Seter. "Hirshberg's Ben-Haim: Three Decades Later" (critical review of the second edition Hirshberg's Ben-Haim). Min-Ad: Israel Studies in Musicology Online, 9 (2011), pp. 97-113.
[1] (See also Jehoash Hirshberg's
response)
Liran Gurkiewicz, Paul Ben-Haim: The Oratorio Joram and the Jewish Identity of a Composer Min-Ad: Israel Studies in Musicology Online, 11/2 (2013),
[2]
Ronit Seter. “Israelism: Nationalism, Orientalism, and the Israeli Five”. Musical Quarterly 97.2 (2014), pp. 238–308.
https://doi.org/10.1093/musqtl/gdu010
The American Symphony Orchestra led by
Leon Botstein performed the US Premiere of Ben-Haim's Symphony No. 2 (1945) on May 31, 2009 at
Avery Fisher Hall, NYC
[3]