Bloch: Baal Shem & Suites – Ben-Haïm: Sonata for Solo Violin
10/13/2023, 19 Tracks, 1:14:21
Featuring
Hagai Shaham
Arnon Erez
Ernest Bloch
Paul Ben-Haim
Did you know?
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Composition History
Paul Ben-Haïm's Sonata in G for solo violin was composed in just three days in 1951, commissioned by Yehudi Menuhin, who premiered it at Carnegie Hall in 1952.
Composer Biography
Ernest Bloch, born in Geneva in 1880, initially studied violin and showed enough promise to become a professional violinist, but his teacher Eugène Ysaÿe encouraged him to pursue composition instead.
Composition History
Bloch's Suite hébraïque was conceived as a gift to the Covenant Club of Illinois in gratitude for a week-long festival celebrating his 70th birthday in Chicago in 1950.
Composer Biography
Paul Ben-Haïm, originally Paul Frankenburger, became a pioneering leader of the 'Eastern Mediterranean School' and Israel's most famous composer after fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s.
Composition History
The two unaccompanied suites for solo violin by Ernest Bloch were commissioned by and dedicated to the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite using modern techniques like shifting tonal centers and serialism, Ernest Bloch's intention in his solo violin suites was to extend the ethos of the 18th century into his own era's musical language.
Performer Biography
Violinist Hagai Shaham and pianist Arnon Erez won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1990, the first time the violin-piano duo category prize had been awarded since 1971.
