AHARON, EZRA

AHARON, EZRA
AHARON, EZRA (1903–1995), composer, 'ud player, and singer. Aharon was born in Baghdad, where he acquired a sound reputation as a versatile musician and a leading virtuoso and composer. The His Master's Voice and Baidaphon companies recorded many of his compositions. He was selected by the Iraqi authorities to head a group of musicians to represent his country at the First International Congress of Arab Music held in Cairo in 1932. The delegation comprised six Jewish instrumentalists plus a vocalist who was a Muslim. The participants in the Congress, including the composers Bartok and Hindemith and the musicologists robert lachmann , curt sachs , and H.G. Farmer, chose Aharon as the best musician present. He came to Palestine in 1934 and settled in Jerusalem, where a year later a group of notables, including Professor david yellin , future second president of Israel izhak ben-zvi , the renowned educator David Avisar, his great supporter Robert Lachmann, and others, established in his honor a special society for the promotion of Israeli Oriental song. When the first radio station was established in Jerusalem in 1936 by the British Mandatory government, he was selected by composer Karl salomon to head a special section of Jewish Oriental music. After the establishment of the state, Aharon founded and directed an Oriental ensemble at Kol Israel. He composed 270 Hebrew songs including synagogal piyyutim, melodies set to poems of famous medieval and contemporary Hebrew poets, such as bialik , tchernichowsky , shimoni , and Sh. Shalom , as well as about 200 instrumental and vocal Arabic pieces, which represent a landmark in the history of Palestinian and Judeo-Arabic music. In the performance of his Hebrew compositions he appeared together with Western and Oriental musicians; Arabs and Jewish Oriental musicians played and sang his Arabic compositions. Written scores exist for a great portion of his works. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Shiloah, in: Y. Ben-Arieh (ed.), Yerushalayim bi-tekufat ha-mandat (2003), 449–72. (Amnon Shiloah (2nd ed.)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • WIZEN, MOSHE AHARON — (1878–1953), Hebrew grammarian. Born in Rozwadow, Galicia, Wizen was reared in a traditional ḥasidic atmosphere, and at the same time acquired proficiency in several languages. He started to teach at the age of 18, and in 1904 he went to… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • HEBREW LITERATURE, MODERN — definition and scope beginnings periodization …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • KABBALAH — This entry is arranged according to the following outline: introduction general notes terms used for kabbalah the historical development of the kabbalah the early beginnings of mysticism and esotericism apocalyptic esotericism and merkabah… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium

  • POLITICAL LIFE AND PARTIES — Introduction It was largely due to the existence of the pre state political parties, which had conducted intensive political activities for almost half a century within the framework of the yishuv , under the British Mandate for Palestine, that… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • POETRY — This article is arranged according to the following outline (for modern poetry, see hebrew literature , Modern; see also prosody ): biblical poetry introduction the search for identifiable indicators of biblical poetry the presence of poetry in… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Hebrew literature — Introduction       the body of written works produced in the Hebrew language and distinct from Jewish literature, which also exists in other languages.       Literature in Hebrew has been produced uninterruptedly from the early 12th century BC,… …   Universalium

  • MASORAH — This article is arranged according to the following outline: 1. THE TRANSMISSION OF THE BIBLE 1.1. THE SOFERIM 1.2. WRITTEN TRANSMISSION 1.2.1. Methods of Writing 1.2.1.1. THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS 1.2.1.2. SEDARIM AND PARASHIYYOT …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • HÉBRAÏQUES (LANGUE ET LITTÉRATURE) — L’hébreu appartient au groupe des langues sémitiques du Nord Ouest, dont il constitue, avec le phénicien et le moabite, le rameau cananéen. L’hébreu, aujourd’hui langue nationale d’Israël, représente, en effet, la forme évoluée de l’idiome qui… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • CULTURAL LIFE — Introduction The movement for the return to Zion which emerged as a force at the end of the 19th century was based on a variety of motivations, including the political – the demand for an independent homeland where the Jews could forge their own… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”