Josef Tal

Josef Tal in 2002

Josef Tal (Hebrew: יוסף טל), born Joseph Grünthal (September 18, 1910 – August 25, 2008) was an Israeli composer. His prolific writing consist of a variety of genres: three Hebrew operas; four German operas; dramatic scenes; six symphonies; thirteen concerti; chamber music, including three string quartets; instrumental works; and electronic compositions. It is now possible to appreciate his distinct contribution as one of the “Founding Fathers” of Israeli art music ^[1], and as a composer who had received international acclaim since the 1960s. ^[2]

Biography

Josef Tal with his father Julius Grünthal (1917).

Josef Tal was born in the town of Pinne (now Pniewy), near Poznań, German Empire (present-day Poland). Soon after his birth his family (parents Ottilie and Rabbi Julius Grünthal^[3], and his elder sister Grete), moved to Berlin, where the family managed a private orphanage^[4]. Rabbi Julius Grünthal was a docent in the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies (Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums), specializing in the philology of ancient languages.[3]

Studies

Tal was admitted to the Staatliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik^[5] in Berlin and studied with Max Trapp (piano and composition), Heinz Tiessen (theory), Max Saal (harp), Curt Sachs (instrumentation), Fritz Flemming (oboe), Georg Schünemann (history of music), Charlotte Pfeffer and Siegfried Borris (ear training), Siegfried Ochs (choir singing), Leonid Kreutzer (piano methodology), and Julius Prüwer (conducting). Paul Hindemith —his composition and theory teacher— introduced him to Friedrich Trautwein, who directed the electronic music studio in the building cellar.

Tal completed his studies in the academy in 1931, and married dancer Rosie Löwenthal one year later. He worked giving piano lessons and accompanying dancers, singers, and silent movies.

Photograph made by Josef Tal.

Nazi anti-Jewish labour laws rendered Tal jobless and he turned to studying photography with Schule Reimann with the intention of acquiring a profession that would make him eligible for an "immigration certificate" to Palestine.^[6]

Palestine

In 1934, the family emigrated to Palestine with their young son Re'uven^[7]. Tal worked as a photographer in Haifa^[6] and Hadera for a short time. The family moved then to Kibbutz Beit Alpha and later to Kibbutz Gesher, where Tal intended to dedicate his time to his music.

Finding it hard to adjust to the new social reality in the Kibbutz, the family settled in Jerusalem where Tal established professional and social connections. He performed as a pianist, gave piano lessons and occasionally played harp with the newly-founded Palestine Orchestra. In 1937, the couple divorced.

Jerusalem

Tal accepted an invitation from Emil Hauser to teach piano, theory, and composition at the Palestine Conservatory, and in 1948 he was appointed director of the Jerusalem Academy of Music, a post he held until 1952. In 1940 Tal married the sculptress Pola Pfeffer.^[8]

Tal with Palestine Conservatoire of Music Orchestra (1939).

In 1951 Tal was appointed lecturer at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem where in 1961 he established the Centre for Electronic Music in Israel^[9][10]. He published academic articles, and wrote many music entries in the Encyclopaedia Hebraica. In 1965 he was appointed senior professor and later chairman of the Musicology Department at the Hebrew University, a post he held until 1971. Among his many pupils are the composers Ben-Zion Orgad, Robert Starer^[11] , Naomi Shemer, Jacob Gilboa, Yehuda Sharett, musicologist Michal Smoira-Cohn, cellist Uzi Wiesel and soprano Hilde Zadek.

Tal was an avid lecturer. He represented Israel at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) conferences and in other musical events and attended many professional conferences around the world. He was a member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts (Akademie der Künste), and a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).

Until his sixties Tal appeared as a pianist and conductor with various orchestras, but his major contribution to the music world lies in his challenging compositions and his novel use of sonority. In the 1990s Tal conducted^[12] a research project (Talmark) aimed at the development of a novel musical notation system in cooperation with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and VolkswagenStiftung. During these years his eyesight deteriorated ^[13] and it became increasingly difficult for him to continue composing. Using a computer screen to enlarge the music score, he managed to compose short musical works for few instruments, write his third autobiography, and complete his visionary analysis of future music^[14]. The complete cycle of his symphonies conducted by Israel Yinon was released on the German label CPO.

Tal checks a manuscript (2006).

Josef Tal is buried in Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha, near Jerusalem. His archival legacy is kept^[15] in the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.^[16] Almost all of Tal's works are published by the Israel Music Institute (IMI).

Style

Tal's style is faithful to his European background. He was not affected by the prevailing trends of Israeli music in the 40s and 50s, which were largely based on the folklore of Jewish ethnic groups in Israel, or on the Mideastern musical traditions. At first glance, Tal's work seems to have a monolithic atonal character, but despite this dominant feature, one can observe significant developments and changes in his composition style through the years.

"…Israeli music is not the outcome of tonality or modality, of atonality or dodecaphony, nor of serial technique or electronics. These are nothing more than the means to which the folkloristic quotation, the combination of Mediterranean fifths, the a la hora rhythm, also belong. The means itself is good as long as it serves a living content and a vital will. In every living language the dialect must necessarily undergo changes: so in music too."

—Josef Tal^[17]

Tal's work is strongly influenced by the Bible and events in Jewish history. Many of his works from the 50s incorporate traditional musical motifs and techniques, though even when he cites a motif, he typically modifies it in a way that obscures its original tonal nature. When he borrows a traditional melody of the Jewish-Babylonian community as a basis for his First Symphony, he does so only to excite his creative imagination, evading any demonstration of national connotation. Tal interlaces the cited materials without compromising his stylistic principles, which were heavily influenced by Arnold Schönberg.

"…Undoubtedly one can find a wealth of musical motifs in Israeli folklore, but it is the courageous composer that absorbs it for an extra-national goal, to create a universal artwork. A work related to temporal phenomena and values is bound to dilettantism. It will lack the origin of every artwork, which, similarly to nature, is super-natural and eternal."

—Josef Tal^[18]

Many regarded Tal L'enfant Terrible of Israeli music. Following Concerto No.4 for Piano & Electronics premiere (27/8/1962), Herzl Rosenblum the daily Yediot Ahronot's editor and critic, used the terms "Terror!", "Cacophony" and "Minority dictatorship"...

Bold in his novel ideas and a headstrong non-conformist, Tal did not follow musical fashions, nor bent his principles towards extra-musical dictates.

"…There is no linear creative process. By its very nature it moves adventurously in many directions. There is the big danger that this may mislead one to superficiality. But just the same it is the great privilege of the creative man that all the roads are open before him. It is up to him, whether he loses his way in that universe or whether he explores it."

—From: Self portrait of the composer Josef Tal – notes for a radio transmission (date unknown)^[19]

Composer–listener relationship

First lines of Piano Concerto No. 2 (1953).

Tal did not underestimate the importance of relationship between composer and listener, and was aware of the difficulties posed by "modern music":

"…Theoretically, if you had played to people of the third century the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, possibly they would have listened only to some white noise – because they were not educated to understand or analyse such a lot of different acoustical appearances…"

—Josef Tal^[20]

"Tal’s attitude towards his music and his audience was inspired by the uncompromising approach[es] of Beethoven and Arnold Schönberg, two composers whom Tal particularly admired. He places high demands upon his listeners: his works are intense, dissonant and densely eventful, and cannot be fully comprehended in one hearing…”

—Jehoash Hirshberg^[2]

"…I hesitate to provide the listener with a verbal analysis that explains a musical theoretical system using professional terminologies. This domain belongs to the composer's workshop and should not bother the listener. The listener brings his own musical experience to the concert, which was gained through lengthy exposure to classical and romantic music. This experience results in habits that help him navigate in classical music. The 20th century music listener is subject to a different system. Musical language changes constantly thus altering its aesthetic perception. Musical elements such as melody, harmony and rhythm are now manifested differently from the traditional music. Despite these changes, a phenomenon common to all musical eras shows itself constantly: the suggestive power that flows from the musical piece to the listener…"

—Tal's foreword to 4th Symphony premiere (1987)

Electronic music

A caricature by Meir Ronnen following the premiere of Tal's Concerto No. 4 for Piano & Electronics.^[21]

Tal at the Electronic Music Studio (~1965)

Tal produced some of the earlier examples of electrico-acoustical music, and in this is joined by such as Edgard Varèse, Mario Davidovsky, and Luciano Berio.^[22]

Tal regards electronic music as a new music language, which he describes as unstable and lacking a crystallized definition. He views the computer as an instrument which compels the composer to disciplined thinking. In return, it stores the data it was fed with absolute faithfulness. Nevertheless, when the computer is ill-used, the composer's incompetence will be revealed, as he is unable to unite computer with the realm of music. But according to Tal, composing electronic music has another aspect too: when the composer chooses the computer's music-notation as his tool for creating, he concomitantly annuls the performer's role as an interpreter. From that point on, it is only the composer's mental capacity that counts, and the performance is independent of the interpreter's virtuosity.

Tal integrates electronic music in many of his works for "conventional" instruments, and was actually one of the world's pioneers in doing so. His pieces for electronic music and harp, piano or harpsichord, and operas like Massada or Ashmedai are typical examples.

"[...Despite] Tal’s considerable interest in electronic music, and the time and creativity he devoted to it, he composed very few electronic works, and these were not played very often – partly because the composer himself did not particularly encourage their public presentation… Apparently, Tal could not quite adapt himself to the situation [] of sitting in a hall facing a set of two or four loudspeakers, and listening to the sounds emanating from them with no human performer in sight… Tal’s compositional involvement with electronic music therefore largely consisted of combining live performance with electronic sound"

—Jehoash Hirshberg^[2]

Compositions

• List of compositions by Josef Tal

Literature

Music theory

• Grünthal, Josef. Basics of Music Theory (in Hebrew). Published by Benno Balan, 1944.
• Introduction to the Theory of Musical Form (in Hebrew). Published by Merkaz Letarbut Vehasbara, 1951.
• Musica Nova in the Third Millennium – Behind the Scenes of Music Theory. Published by the Israel Music Institute, 2002, Cat No. 1018E, ISBN 965-90565-0-8.

Autobiographies

• 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.
• Reminiscences, Reflections, Summaries Retold in Hebrew by Ada Brodsky, Pulished by Carmel (1997), ISBN 965-407-162-2.
• 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.

Essays

• The Impact of the Era on the Interrelation Between Composer, Performer and Listener. Music in Time – A Publication of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance (1983–1984), pp. 23–27.
• Rationale und Sensitive Komponenten des "Verstehens", in Musik und Verstehen – Aufsätze zur semiotischen Theorie, Ästhetik und Soziologie der musikalischen Rezeption, Arno Volk Verlag (197?), 306–313.
• Musik auf Wanderung – Querschnitte zwischen Gestern und Morgen in Berliner Lektionen, (1992) Bertelsmann, 79–90.
• Wagner und die Folgen in der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts, (1983) Universität Bayreuth, Sonderdruck aus Jahresbericht des Präsidenten, 167–181.
• Der Weg einer Oper, Wissenschftskolleg Jahrbuch 1982/83, Siedler Verlag, 355–356.
• Gedanken zur Oper Ashmedai, in Ariel – Berichte zur Kunst und Bildung in Israel, No. 15 (1972), 89–91.
• Music, Hieroglyphics and Technical Lingo in The World of Music, Vol. XIII, No.1/1971 B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz, 18–28.
• Ein Mensch-zu-Mensch-Erlebnis im Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin (1994) in Axel von dem Bussche, Hase&Koehler Verlag, 125–131. ISBN 3-7758-1311-X.

Awards and prizes

• 1949, 1958, 1977 – The City of Tel Aviv Engel Prize
• 1957/1958 – UNESCO grant for the study of electronic music
• 1969 – Member of the (German) Akademie der Künste[4] (Academy of the Arts, Berlin)
• 1970 – The Israel Prize, for music^[23]
• 1975 – Berliner Kunstpreis [5] (Art Prize of the City of Berlin)
• 1981 – Foreign Honorary Membership of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters "in recognition of creative achievement in the arts"
• 1982/1983 – Fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin[6] (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin)
• 1982 – Wolf Prize in Arts (Israel) ^[24] "for his novel approach to musical structure and texture and the unfailing dramatic tension of his creations"
• 1985 – (German) Bundesverdienstkreuz I Klasse[7]
• 1985 – (French) Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres^[25]
• 1993 – Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa of Tel Aviv University "In special recognition of his unique operatic works which are evidence of his deep connection with the spirit of Judaism during various periods of history, and his achieving a synthesis between ancient Jewish tradition, and modern-day music"
• 1995 – Johann-Wenzel-Stamitz-Förderungspreis der Künstlergilde (Germany)
• 1995 – ACUM prize (Societe D'auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique en Israel)
• 1995 – Yakir Yerushalayim award (given by the City of Jerusalem)
• 1996 – Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa of Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg[8]
• 1998 – Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem "In tribute to his rich musical legacy and in recognition of his contribution to the development of music education in Israel"

References

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• Hirshberg, Jehoash. (1992) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• Ron, Yohanan. (2000) The Music of Josef Tal – Selected Writings, The Israeli Music Archive, Tel Aviv University, Department of Musicology
• Markel, Shlomo. (1993) On Notation for Electro Acoustic Music and Interactive Environment for Composition, Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Science, Technion, Haifa
• Hirshberg, Jehoash. Joseph Tal's Homage to Else, in Ariel – A Quarterly Review of Arts and Letters in Israel, No. 41 (1976), pp. 83–93
• Keller, Hans: The Jerusalem Diary. Music, Society and Politics, 1977 and 1979. Plumbago Books [ISBN 0-9540123-0-5]
• Tischler, Alice: A Descriptive Bibliography of Art Music by Israeli Composers. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park Press (1988)

External links

• Jeffrey Burns: With Josef Tal on Kurfürstendamm
• Josef Tal – In Memoriam on The International Association of Music Information Centres web site
• Tal's biography on the IMI web site
• Score catalogue of the Israel Music Institute
• A Conversation with Joseph Tal on the Electronic Music Foundation web site
• Josef Tal – Reflections, by Avrohom Leichtling, 2005
• The American Symphony Orchestra will perform the US Premiere of Tal's Symphony No. 2 (1960) in 2009 May 2009
• Discography

Notes

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients