Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: פאול בן חיים) (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli

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 Defi ...

. Born Paul Frankenburger in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor to

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...

and

Hans Knappertsbusch Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Germ ...

from 1920 to 1924. He served as conductor at

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

from 1924 to 1931, and afterwards devoted himself to teaching and composition, including teaching at the

Shulamit Conservatory The Ron Shulamit Conservatory is a music conservatory in Israel. History Shulamit Conservatory Music education developed in Israel largely due to the pioneering efforts of (1873–1912), an opera singer trained in Berlin and Arthur Ruppin's fir ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel.

Ben-Haim emigrated to the then

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

in 1933 and lived in Tel Aviv, near Zina Dizengoff Square. 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

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish national music: his own compositions are in a late Romantic vein with

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern overtones, somewhat similar to

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

. His students include

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim. Upon hearing him there, Leonard Bernstein endorsed a scholarship fo ...

Henri Lazarof Henri Lazarof ( Bulgarian: Хенри Лазаров) (April 12, 1932 – December 29, 2013) was a Bulgarian-American composer. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a short stint in Rome ...

Ben-Zion Orgad Ben-Zion Orgad ( Hebrew: בן ציון אורגד, originally ''Ben-Zion Büschel''; born Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 21 August 1926; died Tel Aviv, Israel, 28 April 2006) was an Israeli composer. His family emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1933, whe ...

, Ami Maayani,

Shulamit Ran Shulamit Ran ( he, שולמית רן; born October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her th ...

, Miriam Shatal,

Rami Bar-Niv Rami Bar-Niv ( he, רמי בר-ניב; born December 1, 1945 in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine) is an Israeli pianist, composer, author, and instructor of master classes. Bar-Niv is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, where he st ...

and

Noam Sheriff Princewill Paroskey (born 7 April 1994 – ) he was a fiber optic engineer, at IPNX Nigeria limited. Princewill was one of Nigerian most versatile fiber optic engineer. He was two times fiber Director of Nigeria (2021-2022); Fiber Director of th ...

. [] Ben-Haim won the Israel Prize for music in 1957. The archive of Ben-Haim is preserved in the National Library of Israel.

Works, editions and recordings

Selected recordings: * Cello Concerto (1962),

Raphael Wallfisch Raphael Wallfisch (born 15 June 1953 in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames i ...

(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 Talia Or is an Israeli-born operatic and concert soprano based in Germany. Her repertoire ranges from concert and lied to contemporary music. She is a lecturer on singing at University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, Musikhochschule München ...

(soprano), Bettins Aust (clarinet), Christine Steinbrecher (harp), Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, conductor Gabriel Adorján. AVI-MUSIC 8553497 (2022) * ''

Kabbalat Shabbat Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...

'' (Welcoming the Sabbath, evening service) Soloists, Orchester Jakobsplatz München, Grossmann NEOS. * ''Melodies'', Arion ARN 68643. Varda Kotler, Jeff Cohen, Philippe Bary and Alexis Galpérine * Sacred services from Israel. Marc Lavry,

Yehezkel Braun Yehezkel Braun ( he, יחזקאל בראון; January 18, 1922 – August 27, 2014) was an Israeli composer. Darryl Lyman: ''Great Jews in Music''. J. D. Publishers, Middle Village, N.Y, 1986. Biography Yehezkel Braun was born in Breslau, Germany ...

, Paul Ben-Haim Kabbalat Shabbat. Naxos. Milken Archive * Symphony No. 1 (1940), ''Fanfare to Israel'' (1950), ''Symphonic Metamorphoses on a Bach Chorale'' (1968). NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Israel Yinon. CPO * Symphony No. 2 (1945), Concerto Grosso (1931). NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Israel Yinon. CPO

Works, editions and recordings

See also

References

Further reading