Joseph Tal

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Portrait of Joseph Tal by Alexander Polzin, created for the back cover of Tal's album "Symphonies 4-6", NDR RadioPhilharmonie/Israel Yinon (CPO 999 922-2)

Joseph Tal (born Joseph Gruenthal, 18 September 1910) in the town Pinne (now in Poland) is an Israeli composer.

Tal studied in Berlin at the Staatliche Akademische Hochschule fuer Musik with Paul Hindemith, Max Trapp and Heinz Tiessen. 1934 he emmigrated to Palestine. In 1937 he started teaching piano and composition at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, and was director of the academy from 1948 to 1953. In 1965 he joined the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he later served as head of the musicology department, and founded the Institute for Electronic Music.

[edit] Compositions

Joseph Tal's work is influenced by the Bible and events in the Jewish history, and includes dodecaphonic elements.

Among his compositions are operas, ballets, symphonies, piano concertos, chamber music , an Oratorio, Cantatas and music for the Psalms.

A Partial list of works:
Operas

• Saul at Ein Dor, a one-act opera
• Joseph (1994), composed for the opening of the new Tel Aviv opera house
• Ashmedai (Hebrew for Asmodai)
• Amnon and Tamar
• The Temptation, commissioned for the Munich Bavarian State Opera in 1976
• Massada 967, commissioned for the 1973 Israel Festival in Jerusalem, to commemorate 1900 years for the fall of Masada
• The Garden, a chamber opera for two singers and an actor, commissioned for the Berlin State Opera; libretto by Israel Eliraz

Orchestral music

• Three Symphonies
• Three Piano Concertos, 1, 2 and 3
• A Viola Concerto

Vocal

• Exodus
• Succoth Cantata
• The Death of Moses
• Songs on verses of Heine

Instrumental

• Three preludes
• Six sonnets
• A Piano Sonata
• Three String Quartets

Works with tape

• Piano Concertos 4,5 and 6
• Exodus II
• Ranges of Energy

[edit] Literature

• Joseph Tal, Der Sohn des Rabbiners. Ein Weg von Berlin nach Jerusalem (The Son of the Rabbis: a Way from Berlin to Jerusalem), an autobiography, 1985, ISBN 3-88679-123-8
• Joseph Tal, Tonspur - Auf der Suche nach dem Klang des Lebens (On Search for the Sound of Life), an autobiography, Henschel publishing house Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89487-503-8

[edit] Prizes

• 1970 - the State of Israel Prize
• 1975 - the Art Prize of the City of Berlin
• 1983 - the Israeli Wolf Prize
• 1984 - the German Verdienstkreuz I Klasse Prize
• 1985 - the French Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Prize
• 1995 - The German Johann Wenzel Stamitz Prize

Tal was also awarded a UNESCO grant for the study of electronic music.

[edit] References and External links

• Based on the German wikipedia article
• Tal's biography on the IMI web site
• A Conversation with Joseph Tal on the Electronic Music Foundation web site