Karel Salmon, born 13 November 1897 (as Salomon Karl) in Heidelberg, Germany, died 15 January 1974, in Beit Zayit (near Jerusalem).
Israeli composer, conductor, pianist and Bariton singer. A pupil of Richard Strauss at the Berlin Academy of Arts. He became a répétiteur at the Berliner Staatsoper, sang at the Hamburg Opera and conducted in Baden-Baden. In 1933 Salmon immigrated to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem. With the establishment of the Palestine Broadcasting Service (later "Kol Israel") in 1936, he became its musical director and remained at this post until 1958. He then became the director of Kol Israel's transcription-exchange service for four years. He was one of the founders of the Israel Radio Symphony Orchestra (SO) in 1938 (now Jerusalem SO).
His compositions include orchestral and chamber music, operas, cantatas, piano music and songs. Many of his works attempt a blending of his European heritage with Near Eastern and Jewish folklore material.
Among his works:
· The opera David and Goliath for Marionettes (1930)
· Synphonic Suite of Greek Themes (1943)
· The Sephardic Suite (1947)
· Israel Lives (Am Yisrael Hai) variation for piano solo; string trio or
string orchestra (1947)
· Israeli Youth Symphony (1951)
· The opera Four Times Methusalem (1965-6)
References:
· Yehuda Cohen, The Heirs of The Psalmist, Israel's New Music,
Am Oved Publishers Ltd, Tel Aviv 1990 (in Hebrew)
· Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol.17. 2nd ed. U.S.A, 2007
