Ben-Haim: Joram

The oratorio Joram was one of the last works composed by Paul Ben-Haim, then Paul Frankenburger, in his native city of Munich. He completed the work in1933, only a few weeks before he emigrated to Palestine to escape the Nazis. In April 2012, nearly eighty years after its composition, it received its Israeli premiere at Tel Aviv University's Smolarz Auditorium. Its turbulent yet ultimately optimistic libretto is taken from Rudolf Borchardt's poetic work Das Buch Joram (1907) which describes a suffering, Job-like character using semi-biblical imagery. Its musical language displays influences of German late Romanticism and Expressionism. This world premiere recording from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Hayko Siemens honors one of the founders and greatest composers of Israeli music.