Le 29 juin 2017
de 14h00 à 14h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
salle 3203
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Liran Gurkiewicz
By many, Ben-Haim is considered to be the father of Israeli music. Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the then 36 year old Composer/Conductor emigrated from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine (Israel), where he championed the consolidation of the Idiosyncratic Mediterranean (Israeli) musical style. Ben-Haim’s work, much in accordance with the Mediterranean style as a whole, is a unique composite between the local Mediterranean topography which reflects his Jewish identity and between compositional techniques echoing and revealing his more formal German – Western heritage. As such, his work is constructed from the welding of Middle – Eastern elements alongside Western and German post – romantic techniques of writing.
My paper will take a linear approach and chronologically examine several of Ben-Haim’s major orchestral works: the Joram Oratorio; Symphony no.1; Symphony no.2; The Sweet Psalmist of Israel and TheEternal theme. I will describe how the later works show an ever growing level of sophistication in their imbedding of East and West.
As such, I will discuss Ben-Haim’s specific choice of motifs, orchestration, harmonic as well as rhythmic procedures as they come to the forefront on both limited and wider musical perspectives.
This lecture will shed light on the unique melting pot of cultures that formed in Israel (Palestine) during the 1930’s. It will explain the way that both Middle Eastern and Western techniques of writing were coalesced and imbedded in Ben-Haim’s work.
