Music in Exile Vol. 1: Chamber Music by Paul Ben-Haim

The [Piano Quartet's] spirit suggests a clean bill of health to contrast with the feverish outpourings of Vienna's hothouse fin de siecle...Ben-Haim's style has a distinctively lyrical slant... — Gramophone Magazine, September 2013 More…

Release Date: 3rd Jun 2013
Catalogue No: CHAN10769
Label: Chandos
Series: Music in Exile
Length: 86 minutes

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Ben-Haim: Piano Quartet, Op. 4

29:28

$7.00

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$12.25

ARC Ensemble
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I. Allegro moderato, ma energico - Appassionato - Beruhigen - Ruhiges Tempo I - Zuruckhalten - Tempo I - Poco a poco ritenuto - Molto tranquillo - Poco a poco piu moto …

11:20

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II. Adagio molto espressivo - Tempo d'un marcia funebre - Con lamento - Tempo I - Marcia funebre - Molto adagio

8:46

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$3.50

III. Un poco grave - Tempo giusto - Un poco sostenuto - Tempo I - Etwas zuruckhaltend - Ritenuto - Ancora piu lento - Tempo giusto …

9:22

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Ben-Haim: 2 Landscapes, Op. 27

8:50

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$3.50

Steven Dann (viola), Dianne Werner (piano)
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

No. 1. The Hills of Judea (Harei yehudah): Molto sostenuto e solenne - [-] - Tempo I

5:35

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No. 2. The Spring (Hama'ayan): Allegretto scherzando - [-] - Tempo I

3:15

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Ben-Haim: 5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 34

2:56

$1.00

$1.20

$1.75

Dianne Werner (piano)
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 34: No. 4. Canzonetta

2:56

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$1.75

Ben-Haim: Improvisation and Dance, Op. 30

8:26

$2.00

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$3.50

Erika Raum (violin), Dianne Werner (piano)
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I. Molto rubato - Andantino lusingando - Piu tranquillo (come prima)

4:02

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II. Allegro grazioso - Piu allegro - Largamente, con languidezza - Sempre tranquillo - Presto - Meno mosso - Presto con fuoco

4:24

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Ben-Haim: Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, Op. 31a

27:22

$6.00

$7.20

$10.50

ARC Ensemble
Joaquin Valdepenas (clarinet)
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I. Molto moderato - [-] - Tempo I - Un poco piu vivo - Un poco allargando

8:31

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II. Capriccio: Molto vivo - Un poco piu tranquillo - Ancora piu calmo - Tempo I (molto vivo) - Piu tranquillo - Ancora piu calmo - Tempo I (molto vivo)

6:55

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II. Tema con variazioni

11:56

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Ben-Haim: Songs Without Words (3)

9:49

$3.00

$3.60

$5.25

Erika Raum (violin), Dianne Werner (piano)
Recorded: 14-16 January 2013
Recording Venue: Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

No. 1. Arioso

3:45

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$1.75

No. 2. Ballad

2:40

$1.00

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$1.75

No. 3. Sephardic Melody

3:24

$1.00

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$1.75

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About

This is Volume 1 in a new chamber series which explores the music of composers who were forced to flee Europe during the 1930s. The survey begins with works by the German-born Jewish composer Paul Ben-Haim (né Frankenburger) who immigrated to Palestine in October 1933. Ben-Haim was an accomplished pianist, conductor, choral coach, and composer who made a significant cultural contribution to his adoptive country. The list of musicians who commissioned, performed, and recorded his music includes Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, and Leonard Bernstein. Among the Israeli composers he taught are Eliahu Inbal, Avraham Sternklar, Noam Sheriff, and Shulamit Ran.

The Piano Quartet was completed in Munich during the summer of 1921, long before any thought of emigration. Until the ARC Ensemble’s performance of the work in 2012, it had not been played since a broadcast in July 1932. It it strongly rooted in the music of Brahms, Strauss, Reger, and Fauré, whilst retaining Ben-Haim’s own strength of ideas, sense of form, and bold, confident use of colour.

By the late 1930s / early 1940s, Ben-Haim’s musical language had adapted to life in Palestine, and we find strong Hebraic elements scattered throughout both the Two Landscapes and Improvisation and Dance. The ‘Canzonetta’ is the fourth of the composer’s Five Pieces for Piano, and a direct descendent of the nineteenth century’s Song without Words.

The amalgamation of Eastern and Western influences in Ben-Haim’s life are beautifully realised in the Clarinet Quintet. While the European technique originates in the two mainstays of the clarinet’s chamber repertoire, the quintets by Brahms and Mozart, the ‘Capriccio’ in the Scherzo is a complete quotation of ‘Elohei Tzidki’ (God of my righteousness), a traditional hymn. ‘I was very satisfied,’ wrote the composer, ‘because I felt that I had succeeded in consolidating a new style.’

Over the last ten years the ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory, Toronto) has become one of Canada’s pre-eminent cultural ambassadors, raising international appreciation of The Royal Conservatory and Canada’s rich musical life. Its first two CDs, On the Threshold of Hope and Right through the Bone (devoted respectively to the music of Mieczysław Weinberg and Julius Röntgen), were both nominated for Grammy Awards in the ‘Best Chamber Music Recording’ category. Its recordings enjoy regular airplay around the world, and its concerts have been broadcast on CBC Radio, National Public Radio in the US, and on public radio throughout Europe.

Reviews

September 2013

The [Piano Quartet's] spirit suggests a clean bill of health to contrast with the feverish outpourings of Vienna's hothouse fin de siecle...Ben-Haim's style has a distinctively lyrical slant all its own...Superb playing by the members of the ARC Ensemble, excellent sound and useful booklet-notes

17th October 2013

It’s all beautifully and wonderfully captured by the players and the Chandos recording team...This is a fascinating disc which begins to open up the world of a truly significant composer who should be much better known.

21st July 2013

All are expertly played by members of the eight-strong ARC Ensemble.

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