Mordechai Rechtman

Mordechai Rechtman was born in 1926 in Barmen

Rechtman was born in Barmen, Germany, on 16 May 1926. His family moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1934 and settled in Tel Aviv. A neighbor heard him play recorder and harmonica and suggested he try the bassoon.

He studied bassoon with Leon Schulz and Sol Schoenbach. His composition teachers included Ödön Pártos and Hanoch Jacoby.

In 1941 he joined the Palestine Opera Orchestra as principal bassoonist, and from 1946 he held the same post in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1948 he played Hatikva at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He founded the Israel Woodwind Quintet in 1963 and the Philharmonic Woodwind Ensemble in 1976, and conducted many orchestras in Israel.

He taught bassoon at Tel Aviv University until 2002 and was a guest professor at Indiana University in 1977 and 1978. He wrote many arrangements for wind ensembles, published by several publishers. He also held the title of International Master in correspondence chess.

In 2004 he received a Ministry of Education prize for his contribution to music in Israel. He was the father of pianist and composer Ilan Rechtman. He died in Tel Aviv on 27 May 2023.