Composing a Nation: Israel's Musical Patriarchs

Composing A Nation By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Composing A Nation: Israel’s Musical Patriarchs, performed on May 31, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The creation of the state of Israel and the history of Zionism as a modern nationalist movement are among the most widely debated subjects in recent history.…

Josef Tal, Symphony No. 2 By Assaf Shelleg, Hebrew University Written for the concert Composing A Nation: Israel’s Musical Patriarchs, performed on May 31, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Israeli Art music never truly consolidated, since the years around the statehood consisted of a variety of responses to the search for a…

Ödön Pártos, Ein Gev, Symphonic Fantasy By Yuval Sheked, Hebrew University Written for the concert Composing A Nation: Israel’s Musical Patriarchs, performed on May 31, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Kibbutz Ein Gev was established in 1937 in the framework of the Wall and Tower settlements on the east shores of the Sea…

Mordecai Seter, Midnight Vigil By Yuval Sheked, Hebrew University Written for the concert Composing A Nation: Israel’s Musical Patriarchs, performed on May 31, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Midnight Vigil (in Hebrew tikun hatzot) refers to an ancient custom. While living in the land of Israel, leaders of the people used to…

Paul Ben-Haim, Symphony No. 2 By Jehoash Hirshberg, Hebrew University. Author of Paul Ben-Haim, his Life and Works (Second edition, IMI, 2009) and Music in the Jewish Community of Palestine 1880 – 1948 – A Social History (Oxford University Press, 1995) Written for the concert Composing A Nation: Israel’s Musical Patriarchs, performed on May 31,…