Menachem Avidom

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Menachem Avidom (1970)

Menachem Avidom ( Hebrew מנחם אבידום; *  January 6, 1908 in Stanislau ; †  August 5, 1995 in Tel Aviv ) was an Israeli composer of Austrian origin. Avidom is one of the most famous Israeli composers and music teachers of the older generation.

Life

Plaque on his home in Tel Aviv

Menachem Avidom was born Manuel Mendel Mahler-Kalkstein in Galicia , crown land of the western half of Austria-Hungary , his mother was a cousin of Gustav Mahler . His Hebrew surname is a combination of the names of his daughters (Avi - father; D - for Daniella; O - and; M - for Miriam).

In 1925 he emigrated to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine . After studying music at the American University of Beirut , he continued his education at the Paris Conservatory . a. Henri Rabaud taught him composition and counterpoint. In Lebanon and later in Egypt he also studied the basics of Arabic music , and in 1932 he took part in the first International Congress of Arab Music in Cairo .

Between 1931 and 1934 Avidom worked as a music teacher in Egypt , from 1935 to 1946 as a teacher of music theory at the Conservatory and also at the Teacher Training Institute in Tel Aviv. Between 1945 and 1952 he was Secretary General of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra , then until 1955 artistic advisor to the Ministry of Tourism. From 1955 until his retirement in 1980 Avidom was general secretary, vice-president and president of the Israeli copyright society ACUM (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers), from 1958 to 1971 he was also chairman of the composers' association and for a time a member of the council for culture and art.

Honors

  • Joel Engel Prize of the City of Tel Aviv: 1947 and 1956.
  • Price of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra : 1953
  • Israel Prize : 1961 (for his opera Alexandra )
  • ACUM Music Prize: 1962 and 1982 (for his life's work)

Works

In his compositions there are influences from his life stations: in addition to Slavic from his youth also those of French Impressionism and oriental, especially Yemenic . In the second half of the 1930s he composed atonal music and later found a Mediterranean style.

Stage works

  • Singspiel in every generation ; Libretto by Leah Goldberg (1955)
  • Alexandra the Hasmonean Opera in three acts; Libretto by Aharon Ashman (1959)
  • The Fraudulent Chamber Opera; Libretto by Dalia Hertz based on a model by Ephraim Kishon (1965)
  • Luise or The Farewell Radio Opera; Libretto by Dalia Hertz (1968)
  • The Emperor's New Clothes Chamber Opera; Libretto by M. Ohad based on Hans Christian Andersen (1976)
  • Pearl and coral ballet for Sarah Levy-Tanai's ballet troupe Inbal . In music, Avidom uses Yemeni folklore to refer to its origins (1972)
  • The End of King Og Children's Opera; Libretto by Sarah Levy-Tanai (1979)
  • The first sin chamber opera in four scenes; Libretto by Aharon Meged (1979)
Further vocal works
  • Hymn Cantata (1956)
  • Twelve Hills Cantata (1976)

Orchestral works

Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 1 Popular Symphony (1945; revised version 1958).
  • Symphony No. 2 David (composed on the occasion of the reburial of Theodor Herzl on the Herzlberg and the victory of Israel in the First Arab-Israeli War ; 1948/49)
  • Symphony No. 3 Mediterranean Sinfonietta (1951)
  • Symphony No. 4 (1954/55)
  • Symphony No. 5 with a song cycle: The Song of Eilat (1957/58)
  • Symphony No. 6 (1958)
  • Symphony No. 7 Philharmonic Symphony (composed on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra ; 1961)
  • Symphony No. 8 Festival Sinfonietta (1965/66)
  • Symphony No. 9 Symphonie variee (1968)
  • Symphony No. 10 Sinfonia Brevis (1981)
Other orchestral works
  • Concertino for violin and orchestra (1951; Jascha Heifetz played the premiere in 1952 in the USA)
  • Triptyque symphonique (1960)
  • The Jotapata Cave Dramatic scene for soprano and chamber orchestra; Texts by Sarah Levy-Tanai (1978)
  • Movements (twelve-tone technique, 1979)
  • Spring Overture (1973)

Chamber music and solo instruments

  • String trio rainbow (composed in the twelve-tone technique , 1938)
  • String Quartet No. 1 Rainbow (twelve-tone technique, 1945)
  • Music for strings (1949)
  • String Quartet No. 2 (1961)
  • Enigma for woodwind quintet, piano and percussion (twelve-tone technique, 1962)
  • Suite on BACH for chamber ensemble (1964)
  • Wind Quintet (1969)
  • Yemeni bridal suite for piano (1972)
  • ArtHur ruBinStEin Inventionen ; Homage to the pianist Rubinstein (1974)
  • Viola Sonata (1984)
  • Bachiana about BACH for the 300th birthday of JS Bach . The original version for piano (1984/85) was later reworked for chamber orchestra.

literature

Web links

Commons : Menachem Avidom  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara von der Lühe: The Emigration of German-Speaking Musicians to the British Mandate Palestine - Your Contribution to the Development of Israeli Radio, Opera and Music Education since 1933 , P. Lang, 1999, ISBN 9783631335109 , p. 329
  2. ^ Zvi Keren: Contemporary Israeli music - Its sources and stylistic development , Bar Ilan University Press, 1980, p. 18
personal data
SURNAME Avidom, Menachem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Ivano-Frankivsk
DATE OF DEATH 5th August 1995
Place of death Tel Aviv