Ben-Haim: Chamber Music

Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) was born Paul Frankenburger in Frankfurt, and worked in opera houses in Munich and Augsburg before settling in Palestine in 1933. He became the best-known of Israeli composers, and his work was taken up by the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin and Itzhak Perlman. The major pieces in this persuasively performed survey of his chamber music are the accomplished, boldly stated Piano Quartet of 1921 (neglected for more than 80 years) and the altogether lighter, Eastern-flavoured Clarinet Quintet of 1941. The shorter works included are Two Landscapes for viola and piano, Canzonetta for piano (showing the influence of Ravel), and Improvisation and Dance, for violin and piano. url.ie/f1f2