Menachem Avidom

Menachem Avidom

Menachem Avidom (Hebrew: מנחם אבידום‎‎) (January 6, 1908 – August 5, 1995) was an Israeli composer. His Hebrew surname is the combination of the names of his daughters Daniella and Miriam (Avi - the father of; D - for Daniella; O - and; M - for Miriam).

Biography

Avidom was born Mendel Mahler-Kalkstein in Stanislaviv, Austria-Hungary, in 1908. This put him in Poland after World War I. He emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1925 and, soon after, went to study at the American University of Beirut (from 1926 to 1928). After further studies at the Paris Conservatory (from 1928 to 1931), he moved to Tel Aviv, where he taught music theory. From 1945, he served as general secretary of the Israeli Philharmonic; in 1955 he was named director of ACUM, the Israeli Performing Rights Society.

He died in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 5, 1995.

Awards

• In 1961, Avidom was awarded the Israel Prize for music,^[1] in recognition of his opera Alexandra ha'Hashmonait.

Works

Vocal

• In Every Generation, opera, 1955
• Alexandra ha'Hashmonait, opera, 1961
• The Farewell, opera, 1971
• The First Sin, opera, 1980
• Me'Arat Yodfat, opera
• 4 other operas
• Kantatat t'hilim, cantata, 1955
• 12 Hills, cantata, 1976

Orchestral

• Symphony No. 3: Yam tichonit, 1952
• 9 other symphonies
• Flute Concerto
• Concertino for violin and orchestra

Chamber music

• Suite on B-A-C-H, chamber ensemble, 1964
• Brass Quintet, 1969
• Sonata for unaccompanied viola, 1984

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

References

Further reading

• Don Randel. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard, 1996, p. 32.