Paul Ben-Haim

Paul Ben-Chaim ( Hebrew פאול בן חיים, also Ben-Haim , born Paul Frankenburger ; born July 5, 1897 in Munich ; died January 14, 1984 in Tel Aviv ) was an Israeli composer .

Life

Ben-Haim with his wife and Max Brod

Paul Frankenburger was the son of the lawyer Heinrich Frankenburger (1856–1938). After graduating from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , he studied from 1915 to 1920 at the Academy of Music in Munich with Friedrich Klose and Walter Courvoisier (composition) and Berthold Kellermann (piano) and was then assistant to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch . From 1924 to 1931 he was Kapellmeister in Augsburg . In 1933 he emigrated from Germany and since then has lived as a composer and conductor in Tel Aviv. In Palestine he then called himself Paul Ben-Haim. His students include Tzvi Avni , Ben-Zion Orgad , Ami Maayani and Noam Sheriff .

plant

Before he emigrated to Palestine, Ben-Haim composed over 80 songs in the romantic style by Schubert , Brahms , Hugo Wolf and Gustav Mahler, as well as chamber music and choral works.

In Palestine, Ben-Haim recognized that his compositional style, which was based on German Romanticism, was hardly appropriate in the new times and surroundings and was probably not in demand, so that his music became completely different from that of Paul Frankenburger. While in Germany he had set texts by Goethe , Eduard Mörike , Heinrich Heine , Joseph von Eichendorff and Hugo von Hofmannsthal to music, in Palestine Sephardic melodies, biblical texts and poems by contemporary Jewish writers such as Leah Goldberg , Chaim Nachman Bialik or Saul Tschernichowski formed the basis of his Compositions. Through his collaboration with the singer Braha Zefira he got to know Jewish and Arabic songs, the melodies and rhythms of which influenced his compositions.

The String Quartet op. 21 , composed in 1937, is his first work written in Palestine and quickly became one of the most popular chamber music works written in Israel. Stylistically, Ben-Haim does not orient himself here (as in his first string quintet from 1919) on German models such as Max Reger or Richard Strauss , but on French impressionists such as Claude Debussy or Maurice Ravel .

Ben-Haim composed two symphonies (1940 and 1945), a piano, a violin and a cello concerto and other orchestral works, a sonata for mandolins, guitar, harpsichord, harp and string orchestra, violin sonatas, choirs, oratorios ( Joram , 1933, text by Rudolf Borchardt ), liturgical works and songs .

The oratorio Joram was performed for the first time in Israel in April 2012 in an unabridged original version. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Münchner MotettenChor under the direction of Hayko Siemens arranged the performance in the Smolarz Auditorium of Tel Aviv University .

honors and awards

The Paul-Ben-Haim-Weg runs along the Wertach in Augsburg

Ben-Haim received the Israel Prize in 1953 and 1957 for his works Ne'im Zmirot Israel for orchestra, harp and harpsichord and The Sweet Psalmist of Israel . In 1972 he received the Federal Cross of Merit . The city of Augsburg honored the composer, who worked at the municipal theater until his dismissal in 1931 , in 2010 by naming the footpath “Paul-Ben-Haim-Weg”. The path leads along the Wertach in the Oberhausen district .

literature

Jehoash Hirshberg: Ben-Haim, Paul. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 2 (Bagatti - Bizet). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1112-8 , Sp. 1108–1111 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)

Web links

Commons : Paul Ben-Haim - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Works by and about Paul Ben-Haim in the catalog of the German National Library
Paul Ben-Haim at Peermusic Classical
Biography at the Israel Music Institute ( Memento from December 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Paul Ben-Haim in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM)
The composer Paul Ben-Haim and his journey from Germany to the Middle East
Ben Haim Research Center of the University of Music and Theater Munich

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b annual report from the K. Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Munich. ZDB ID 12448436 , 1914/15.
↑ Note: Haim is the Hebrew form of the name of his father Heinrich Frankenburger . Ben means son. Paul Ben-Haim is called Paul, son of Heinrich .
↑ Liran Gurkiewicz: Paul Ben-Haim - The Oratorio Koram and the Jewish Identity
↑ Boris Fernbacher: From the Jerusalem Temple to New York - 3000 Years of Jewish Music History , 2018, ISBN 978-3-7460-2430-1 , pp. 389 and 391.
↑ Jehoash Hirshberg: Paul Ben-Haim - His Life and Works , Israeli Music Institute, Jerusalem, 2005, ISBN 978-9652590022 , p. 30
^ The long journey of the Joram in: FAZ of April 7, 2012, page 33.
↑ Augsburger Allgemeine from July 2, 2010: A path recalls Paul Ben Haim

personal data
SURNAME	Ben-Haim, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Frankenburger, Paul (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Israeli composer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 5, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH	Munich
DATE OF DEATH	January 14, 1984
Place of death	Tel Aviv

[biographie-1] ual report from the K. Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Munich. ZDB ID 12448436 , 1914/15.

[2] Note: Haim is the Hebrew form of the name of his father Heinrich Frankenburger . Ben means son. Paul Ben-Haim is called Paul, son of Heinrich .

[3] Liran Gurkiewicz: Paul Ben-Haim - The Oratorio Koram and the Jewish Identity

[4] Boris Fernbacher: From the Jerusalem Temple to New York - 3000 Years of Jewish Music History , 2018, ISBN 978-3-7460-2430-1 , pp. 389 and 391.

[5] Jehoash Hirshberg: Paul Ben-Haim - His Life and Works , Israeli Music Institute, Jerusalem, 2005, ISBN 978-9652590022 , p. 30

[6] The long journey of the Joram in: FAZ of April 7, 2012, page 33.

[7] Augsburger Allgemeine from July 2, 2010: A path recalls Paul Ben Haim