Rediscovering Ben-Haim
In 1920, Paul Frankenburger was 23 and an up-and-coming German conductor and composer. For the next four years, he assisted two of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch, but by 1933, the Nazis had forced him to immigrate to Palestine. At 36, he had to start over.
Undaunted, Frankenburger changed his surname to Ben-Haim and went on to reinvent and refresh both his personal and musical identity, eventually becoming a national treasure of his adopted homeland. In 1957, he received the Israel Prize in music for his King David-inspired orchestral score, “The Sweet Psalmist of Israel,” which was conducted two years later by Leonard Bernstein in New York. A widely admired recording with the New York Philharmonic followed.
In his day, and in the decade following his death in 1984, Ben-Haim was celebrated by great musicians, among them violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who frequently programmed his Sonata in G minor for Solo Violin, and Itzhak Perlman, who recorded a dazzling rendition of his Violin Concerto in 1993 with the Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta.
But these days, the Israeli composer isn’t heard much in concert halls, and his catalog available on Amazon is scant.
That may change with the release of “Chamber Works by Paul Ben-Haim,” the latest installment of Canada’s venturesome ARC Ensemble “Music in Exile” series. The vibrant recording, thrillingly performed, offers a rich musical portrait of the Israeli composer from 1921 to 1965.
The Toronto-based ensemble, in its 10th season, plans to explore works not only by Jewish composers who fled Germany during the 1930s, but also by the non-Jews who remained behind, resisting totalitarianism and becoming “internal exiles.”
Furthermore, on Nov. 17, the eight ARC (“Artists of the Royal Conservatory”) musicians will perform a program of all-Polish music at the downtown Colburn School’s Zipper Hall, including Piano Quintets by Mieczyslaw Weinberg — in 2006, the ensemble’s RCA disc of his chamber music was nominated for a Grammy — and Szymon Laks.
The ensemble’s choice of repertoire is often initially proposed by its artistic director, guitarist Simon Wynberg, who then discusses the possibilities with the musicians.
“We thought it would be better to do something unknown, rather than the 150th version of Dvorak’s Piano Quintet or Schubert’s `Trout,’ “ Wynberg said by phone from Toronto. “We didn’t think we’d be adding to what’s already been said musically, so I started looking for groundbreaking repertoire.”

Wynberg said James Conlon, music director of Los Angeles Opera, became an early supporter of the ARC’s project. Conlon’s own earlier “Recovered Voices” series focused on little-known or forgotten operas pushed aside by the Holocaust.
“Ben-Haim was Israel’s best-known national composer,” Wynberg said, “and I wondered why so much of his music was still unexplored.”
Wynberg started corresponding with Ben-Haim’s biographer, Jehoash Hirshberg, professor emeritus of musicology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studied the Ben-Haim music catalog included in Hirshberg’s book.
“When I met Hirshberg in Israel, I asked him about the composer’s early Piano Quartet,” Wynberg said, “and he said it was well worth looking into, even though it’s stylistically very different from his Israeli works.”
The Piano Quartet, probably last heard in Europe on a 1932 German radio broadcast, is the first piece on the new recording. It’s a solidly crafted late-Romantic work, full of rhythmic drive and unforced lyricism. Exulting in every bar of the score, the ARC players make the 1921 piece sound freshly conceived.
Wynberg said the score was discovered still in manuscript, and not performed in Israel, probably because Israeli musicologists and musicians were less interested in exploring works written before Ben-Haim’s immigration.

“No one had looked at it,” Wynberg said. “Ben-Haim’s musical language changed when he arrived in Israel. He heard things he wouldn’t have heard in Germany — folk tunes, traditional melodies.”
In some ways, Ben-Haim was a composer in the right place at the right time. He became a hugely successful tonal composer, whose colorful folkloristic style and exotic melodies were particularly relevant to the Israeli experience.
“This was a young country looking to provide an identity for itself,” Wynberg said. “Writing music as if you were part of a German conservatory was not going to cut it. It was a tabula rasa. You could do what your conscience and creativity pushed you to do.”
Wynberg said Ben-Haim’s style imaginatively melds “European conservatory training with the atmosphere of the Middle East.”
You can hear what he’s talking about in the recording’s riveting accounts of the quirky and restless Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, the atmospheric “Two Landscapes” for viola and piano, and Improvisation and Dance for violin and piano.
Erika Raum, one of the ensemble’s violinists, whose teacher, Lorand Fenyves, was concertmaster of the Palestine Symphony (which became the Israel Philharmonic), said Ben-Haim “brought his central European training to the table, the development of complex harmony and extended forms.”
Raum called Ben-Haim’s early Piano Quartet “a fabulous piece,” and rated Weinberg’s Piano Quintet, which will be performed at Zipper Hall on Nov. 17 — (alas, there won’t be any Ben-Haim on that program) — “up there with Shostakovich.”
While the ARC Ensemble can and does play canonical works like the Brahms Piano Quintet, Wynberg said “there is something particularly exciting about learning and performing a completely unknown piece.”
In a way, Wynberg suggested, perhaps it’s a bit like what Ben-Haim may have felt setting out on a new adventure in Palestine. “Creating a new culture,” Wynberg said, “must have been incredibly exciting.”
JJ Inside The Print
The idea that anti-Semitism often hides behind Israel criticism is now well established. A prominent example is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who had to apologize for...
When I first read Rep. Ilhan Omar’s now-infamous Feb. 11 tweet — “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” — my tired brain thought: Wow, she’s...
Should a company owned by someone who performs in blackface receive a government contract? How about a corporation whose CEO defends white supremacy? Ralph Northam,...
Canary Mission, a website that highlights hateful remarks by anti-Israel students and professors, recently exposed anti-Semitic statements by Lara Kollab, who was, until September, a...
The president of the United States laced this year’s State of the Union with references to anti-Semitism. He invited a Holocaust survivor of Dachau and...
“The World’s Best,” CBS’ new addition to the TV talent competition genre, hosted by James Corden, is global in its focus. The acts are international,...
Don’t get me wrong. I really like my iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Dell laptop, smart TV and Alexa. I’m connected, baby! I recently took an...
Editor's note: The following piece is a work of fiction. Gina sashayed her hips as she folded chopped apples into the cake batter, humming along...
Editor’s Note: In the Feb. 8 Journal, New York State’s new abortion law, which legally ensures the right to abortion if Roe v. Wade were...
The story of medical atrocities inflicted on women in Auschwitz-Birkenau finally ought to be told. Alongside its gas chambers and crematoria, Auschwitz served as a...
Molly Cutler has been living with a neuromuscular disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth since she was 5 years old. But she never let it stop her from...
The precise moment when a politician becomes pathetic can be difficult to pin down. Take Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay for example. When Gabbay declares...
When she was young, Fanny Koyman never thought about pursuing a career in day-school education. And, accordingly, she certainly never imagined she would one day...
One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, Accidental Talmudist “When Aaron kindles the lights in the afternoon, he shall make it go up in smoke,...
It was a house of coffee cake and hairspray, needlepoint and gossip, men essential to the organism but flung to sides like water in a...
According to polls, 40 percent of Americans have negative feelings about Valentine’s Day. The El Paso Zoo announced “Quit Bugging Me” for the holiday, in...
It’s mid-morning on a Thursday at Canter’s Deli on Fairfax Avenue — nearly two weeks after the death of its patriarch, Alan Canter — and...
Taking center stage before 1,600 people at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on Feb. 10, former FBI Director James Comey broke the ice by...
Illegitimate criticism of Israel was the major focus of the Maccabee Academy, hosted by the Maccabee Task Force (MTF) at the Venetian Hotel in Las...
One of Netflix’s most popular new series is about a pair of 70-something buddies aging in Hollywood, prostate problems and all. In the deft hands...
On a recent rainy Saturday night, facing a full house in the roomy sanctuary at West Hills Shomrei Torah Synagogue, Jackie Rafii, the shul’s cantorial...
Jewish mourning rituals and the science of decomposition are unlikely topics for a comedy, but writer-director Shawn Snyder deftly mines them for dark humor and...
Comedian Judy Gold emerged on stage at an Upper West Side theater on Feb. 11 and screeched, “Oh my God, I’m so excited,” as she...
Two anniversaries this spring deserve recognition as turning points in bringing the then largely ignored horror of the Holocaust home to the post-World War II...
After Steven Spielberg released his epic film “Schindler’s List,” Holocaust survivors would approach the director and tell him, “That’s a great movie, but let me...
Alan Averick died Jan. 12 at 100. Survived by daughter Joady; sons Michael, William; 2 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren. Hillside Jacqueline “Jackie” Bender died Dec. 30...
Once upon a time, people actually used clothespins to hang damp clothes out to dry. While a few old-school laundry enthusiasts may still do so,...
If Géza Röhrig’s trajectory is an anomaly in his native Hungary, it is even more so in Hollywood. The former boxer and punk rocker was...
The 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) gala was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Jan. 27. About 1,300 attendees enjoyed a program...
FRI FEB 15 Frieze Los Angeles Art Fair The inaugural Frieze Los Angeles contemporary art fair opens on the New York City backlot of Paramount...
Carr Seat Kudos to the Jewish Journal for its front-page article on the appointment of Elan Carr as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism...
[caption id="attachment_293807" align="aligncenter" width="1800"] Illustrated by David Mamet[/caption]
We call this format a Timesaver Guide to Israel’s Coming Elections. This will be a usual feature on Rosner’s Domain until April 9. We hope...