The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performed yesterday the world premiere of a work by a Chilean immigrant dedicated to the fallen in the Yom Kippur War. The work, performed under the baton of Zubin Mehta, the orchestra’s musical advisor, was composed last November in the aftermath of the war by Leon Schidlowsky, who since immigrating from Chile in 1969, has become one of Israel’s foremost composers.
Schidlowsky, who is professor of composition at the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, in a preface to his work, quoted David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan: “The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places. How are the mighty fallen.” The war composition, which consists of one movement, expresses contrasts of mood coupling battle sounds with the traditional Kol Nidre cut off by an air raid siren.
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