Composing Israel: The First Three Generations

Description

EDITORIAL REVIEWS What do the first 60 years of a nation sound like? Composing Israel begins to address this question by showcasing a wide range of art music composed in Israel since 1943. Piece by piece, one can hear the nation establishing its identity and exploring new aspects of its burgeoning and multilingual culture. Composing Israel producer Robert Fleisher was a junior member of the Northern Illinois University School of Music faculty in 1986, when he spent two months in Israel attending rehearsals and concerts and interviewing composers of the nation’s first three generations. All but two of the compositions heard here were recorded live during a New Music from Israel concert he presented in 1987, when NIU’s faculty and graduate student performers were joined by several Israeli guest composers and soloists—including pianists Michal Tal, Liora Ziv-Li, and harpist Ruth Maayani. Most Composing Israel works are receiving either their first commercially-released live or studio recordings. In stirring performances by American and Israeli musicians, including members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Music Director Lahav Shani, Composing Israel presents ten works spanning six decades, created by nine internationally acclaimed composers—men and women, immigrants and natives. Their music reflects the wide variety of personal histories, musical training, influences, and aesthetic leanings within the still larger group of composers profiled in Fleisher’s critically acclaimed book Twenty Israeli Composers. Music of: Tsippi Fleischer, Arie Shapira, Ari Ben-Shabetai, Oded Zehavi, Paul Ben-Haim, Betty Olivero, Tzvi Avni, Ami Maayani, and Abel Ehrlich.