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Paul Ben-Haim

Paul Ben-Haim was an Israeli composer, born in Germany, who wrote what is considered the first symphony written in Israel and won the Israel Prize in 1957.

1897 to 1984The first symphony written in IsraelFanfare to IsraelJewish national art musicTeaching Israeli composers

Born: 5 July 1897, Munich
Died: 14 January 1984, Tel Aviv
Occupation: composer, conductor, music educator, chapelmaster

Paul Ben-Haim was born in 1897 in Munich

Paul Ben-Haim was born Paul Frankenburger in Munich in 1897, to a well-off Jewish family. At age 10 the conductor Felix Mottl found that he had perfect pitch. He studied violin and viola, then moved to piano.

In World War I he served on the French front and was nearly killed in a gas attack. He studied composition with Friedrich Klose. From 1920 to 1924 he was assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch.

He conducted at the Augsburg opera house, but in 1931 his work there was ended. With antisemitism rising, he could not find other work in Germany. In October 1933 he immigrated to the Land of Israel, took the name Ben-Haim and settled in Tel Aviv.

His early years in the country were hard, and in 1937 he returned to composing. He wrote chamber, choral and orchestral music and songs, in a late Romantic style with Middle Eastern elements. His first symphony premiered in 1941, and he taught many students, including Noam Sheriff and Shulamit Ran.

He won the Israel Prize in 1957 and a German Order of Merit in 1972. In 1980 he deposited his archive at the National Library of Israel. He died in 1984.