Ben-Haim: Symphony No. 1

Pioneer of Israeli Music. Paul Ben-Haim was born in Munich in 1897 as Paul Frankenburger and died in Tel Aviv in 1984, but behind these bare facts we find a life story rivaling the suspense of novelistic fiction. Frankenburger had studied in Munich prior to serving as Bruno Walter's assistant for a short time and then as the conductor at the Augsburg Opera House. Already during these years he was a productive composer. Not too long after the Nazis had come to power, he and many other Jewish composers left Germany for Palestine, which was then a British mandate. Under his new Hebrew name, Ben-Haim, he soon resumed his creative activity and became one of the pioneers of classical music in Israel – both as a composer and as an admired composition teacher. He wrote his dramatic, rousing first symphony for the Palestine Orchestra (today's Israel Philharmonic) during 1939-40: »I worked with determination on my new symphony. […] Everything was overshadowed by the depressing war and Hitler's first colossal successes.« This is music in the tradition of Mahler – subjective, highly personal, and yet brimming with genuine musical spirit. A highly significant discovery!