PAUL BEN-HAIM (1897-1984) Symphony no. 2 ca. 50 mins. Paul Frankenburger, who later changed his name to Ben-Haim, was born in Munich to a liberal Jewish family. His mother played the piano and his father was a lawyer. When he was in elementary school, his teacher asserted that he did not have a musical hearing at all. Nevertheless, encouraged by his parents, he began his musical studies at the age of nine, studying violin and later piano, harmony, and counterpoint. He continued with piano and composition studies at the Academy of Music in Munich. During WWI Frankenburger was called up for service in the German army and fought at the French and Belgian fronts. He served for a period of two and a half years, which, according to him, was very hard. After the war, he resumed his studies and, upon graduating, was appointed assistant conductor to Bruno Walter, the music director of the Bavarian State Opera. His last position in Germany was as a conductor at the Augsburg Opera. In 1931, even before the National Socialist Party came to power, its influence was already felt. Frankenburger's contract was not renewed, and he was unable to find a new job during the following year. Nevertheless, he continued composing music, including his oratorio "Yoram", which he considered his greatest work. Paul Frankenburger immigrated to Palestine in 1933, when he was already an accomplished composer. He settled in Tel Aviv, where he remained for the rest of his life, thanks to the sea he loved so much. He began teaching and performing in concerts, later working as a conductor while continuing to compose. His works, especially those written after immigrating to Palestine, are often described as a fusion of late Romantic and modernist European styles, with Jewish and Hebraic elements. While still living in Germany, he met the Jewish composer Heinrich Schalit (1886-1976) who heard some of Frankenburger's works and told him that "A Jewish composer should write Jewish music". In a documentary about his life, he was asked whether Schalit was right, and his answer was: "we have a duty (…) I fulfilled my duty, and I must say, I have no regrets." Ben-Haim's style evolved over time, with a significant shift in his songs. As a young composer, he set many German poems by Nietzsche, Hofmannsthal and others to music in the Lieder tradition of Schubert, Schumann, Wolf and Brahms. As he became more familiar with the Hebrew language, he began composing Hebrew texts, either from biblical sources or poetry by Bialik, Rachel Bluwstein and Lea Goldberg. He also incorporated Hebrew songs and oriental elements to create musical themes in his instrumental works, often giving them titles related to the Land of Israel and its heritage, such as “Variations on a Hebrew Melody” or “Judaean Mountains”. Molto moderato Allegretto vivace Andante affetuoso e languendo Finale: Allegro deciso
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