Ofer Canetti - Paul Ben-Haim: Music for violoncello - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Paul Ben-Haim ranks among those leading Israeli composers from his generation. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and served as an assistant conductor to both Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch. His extensive catalogue comprises works in all the primary genres apart from opera. Music for or with cello features prominently throughout Ben-Haim's output. Following emigration, he increasingly advocated a specifically Jewish national expression while his own compositions favoured a late-Romantic vein redolent of - though by no means indebted (unlike other contemporaries) to - Ernest Bloch and frequently informed by Middle-Eastern overtones. Album Tracks 1. Concerto for violoncello and chamber orchestra~I. Allegro giusto 2. Concerto for violoncello and chamber orchestra~II. Sostenuto e languido 3. Concerto for violoncello and chamber orchestra~III. Allegro gioioso 4. Three Songs without words~I. Arioso 5. Three Songs without words~II. Ballad 6. Three Songs without words~III. Sephardic Melody 7. Music for violoncello~I. Moderato 8. Music for violoncello~II. Rather fast, lively 9. Music for violoncello~III. Slow 10. Two Landscapes, Op. 27~I. The hills of Judea (Molto sostenuto e solenne) 11. Two Landscapes, Op. 27~II. The Spring (Allegretto scherzando) 12. Sonata for two mandolins, guitar, harpsichord and two string orchestras~I. Allegro aperto 13. Sonata for two mandolins, guitar, harpsichord and two string orchestras~II. Calmo 14. Sonata for two mandolins, guitar, harpsichord and two string orchestras~III. Moderato