Tuesday, September 16, 2014

For Strings Only - String Music from Israel

A wonderful disc from Koch Classics, 1990. There's four works for string orchestra from four Israeli composers: Oedoen Partos, Yehezkel Braun, Noam Sheriff, and Theodor Holdheim. The piece by
Yehezkel Braun, "...et laetitia cordis" (for solo flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons, trumpets, horns & light percussion) is my favorite, it's really soo beautiful in my opinion. He came into direct contact with Jewish and Arab folklore and music as a kid, and thus his interest in the melismatic quality of these musics led him to study the Gregorian chorale comprehensively. It's a work that speaks of the joy of the heart. Unlike Braun's modality and melody, Partos's Concertino is more modernist, however it synthesizes Western and Middle-Eastern traditions amidst it's energy giving it some "ethnic" moments, and it's a rather electric work. Sheriff's "Prayers for strings" is full of dissonant writing however the Middle-Eastern melismas are there, a careful ear will pick up on it. Holdeim's "Chaconne" is dense and highly expressive, and a perfect way to end a rare and sublime disc. Enjoy!



For_Strings_Only_Israeli-composers.zip

http://www33.zippyshare.com/v/91069172/file.html

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gracias por su dedicación y esfuerzo.
Por cierto,de todo con lo que nos
ha obsequiado mi disco preferido
ha sido, "Vision of a Starry Night - Alan Hovhaness - More Half a Century of Piano Music",lo he escuchado muchas veces,es muy relajante.
Un saludo.
juanito

Tzadik said...

Hola Juanito, gracias por tu comentario. Usted es bienvenido, y estoy feliz de saber que te gusta la música de piano Hovhaness tanto. Yo también! También tendría luego disfrutar de la música de Hovhaness para arpa, que voy a publicar en algún momento. Saludos

theblueamos said...

Im sorry to admit that this is completely new to me,I will have to give these works a few careful listens.Im looking foreward,thank you from Jerusalem.

Tzadik said...

theblueamos I'm ashamed of you!!! ;-P Ha, don't forget I have been collecting for years, obsessively so. I have also studied up over the years on Jewish/Israeli composers along with all the Soviet/Russian/E.European in general and so on and so on.. Plus this is a hard-to-find disc. So...I hope you enjoy it!

theblueamos said...

I actually did enjoy my first spin,I most liked Y Braun.There is definitely a feeling of home,imerging from the music> I had a feeling Im at my cousins kibutz in the yizrael valley. All the best.

Tzadik said...

Hey tba. The Braun is beautiful indeed. Happy the music resonates with you :) I like how makes you think of your time on your cousin's kibbutz (I was supposed to stay at one myself, part of a "Birthright" trip to Israel that I didn't go on last minute-one of the biggest regrets of my life). Regards friend

Tzadik said...

I mean last minute I decided not to go at that time. I have to admit there was so much misrepresentation on the US news about bombings, car bombs, buses, exchange students being killed, and so on and I bought into it :( I can't say much for general news or journalism in the States even to this day sadly.....puppeteers. I was still in my 20s and clearly made poor, stupid decisions!

AT said...

I've search the history of your uploads and I found a lot of interesting posts. It will take some time to download all and even more time hear all.
I send you my regards with best wishes for 2015