Moshe Wilensky | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Personal details | |
Born |
Warsaw, Poland | April 17, 1910
Died | January 2, 1997 | (aged 86)
Nationality |
Polish Israeli |
Alma mater | Warsaw Conservatory |

Moshe Wilensky playing piano, entertaining people in DP camps in Cyprus (ca. 1947–48)
Moshe Wilensky (Hebrew: משה וילנסקי, also, "Vilensky"; April 17, 1910 – January 2, 1997) was a Polish-Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist.[1][2][3][4] He is considered a "pioneer of Israeli song" and one of Israel's leading composers, and was a winner of the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor.[5][6]
Early life[]
Wilensky, who was Jewish, was born in Warsaw, Poland, the son of Zelig and Henia (née Liebman).[1][7][8] He studied music at the Warsaw Conservatory in Warsaw, specializing in conducting and composition, and immigrated to Palestine in 1932.[1][4][7] He married Bertha Yakimovska in 1939.[8]
Music career[]
A pianist and composer, Wilensky wrote music for theaters and musical troupes of the Israel Defense Forces, including the Nahal choir in the 1950s.[9] He worked with the Kol Yisrael orchestra.[1]
Wilensky's music combines Slavic music and Eastern music.[1] He composed for films, plays, hora dances, cabaret songs, and children's tunes, writing nearly 1,500 songs in his lifetime.[1][3][4][10][11] Among his songs are "Kalaniyot" ("Anemones"), "Hayu Zmanim" ("In Those Times)", "Autumn," "Ring Twice and Wait," "Each Day I Lose," "The Last Battle", and "Mul Har Sinai" ("Opposite Mt. Sinai").[1][2][6][12][13][14] He wrote music for many of Natan Alterman's poems.[1] In 1962, Israeli Esther Reichstadt won second prize at the Polish international song festival, which Wilensky hosted, with his song "Autumn".[15]
In 1983, Wilensky was awarded the Israel Prize, for Hebrew song (melody).[1][16] In 1990, a special concert in honor of his 80th birthday was given by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.[6] In 1998, the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel (ACUM) named its Song of the Year Award the "Moshe Wilensky Prize".[17]
See also[]
- List of Israel Prize recipients
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Moshe Vilensky". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Vilensky.html. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dan Baron (February 23, 2006). "Shoshana Damari, 83". The Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314015418/http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/2585/Shoshana_Damari_83/. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Penn, Lea (July 22, 2011). "All keyed up". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/all-keyed-up-1.309194. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hirschfeld, Ariel (July 30, 2010). "All hail the king". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/all-hail-the-king-1.304956. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Schweitzer, Erez (July 22, 2011). "And the twain shall meet". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/and-the-twain-shall-meet-1.2848. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Michael Ajsenstadt (January 5, 2000). "Moshe Wilensky – shaping the national soul". The Jerusalem Post. https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/47726510.html?dids=47726510:47726510&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+05%2C+2000&author=MICHAEL+AJZENSTADT&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=Moshe+Wilensky+-+shaping+the+national+soul&pqatl=google. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Marsha Bryan Edelman (2003). Discovering Jewish music. https://books.google.com/books?id=VuOZAJzvzOQC&pg=PA323&dq=Moshe+Wilensky&hl=en&ei=ltY1TqDVB8a30AG-hYXkCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Moshe%20Wilensky&f=false. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Harry Schneiderman, Itzhak J. Carmin (1978). Who's who in world Jewry. https://books.google.com/books?id=zXNqAAAAMAAJ&q=Moshe+wilensky+%22april+17,+1910%22&dq=Moshe+wilensky+%22april+17,+1910%22&hl=en&ei=UfE2TuDSFeLb0QGX65T0Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ↑ Handelzalts, Michael (July 22, 2011). "In the shadow of the cannons". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/in-the-shadow-of-the-cannons-1.204914. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Amy Kronish, Costel Safirman (2003). Israeli film: a reference guide. https://books.google.com/books?id=BJsktgkY9boC&pg=PA116&dq=Moshe+Wilensky&hl=en&ei=ltY1TqDVB8a30AG-hYXkCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Moshe%20Wilensky&f=false. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Oliver Leaman (2001). Companion encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African film. https://books.google.com/books?id=hP16fBJ06yUC&pg=PA246&dq=Moshe+Wilensky&hl=en&ei=ltY1TqDVB8a30AG-hYXkCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Moshe%20Wilensky&f=false. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Selwyn Ilan Troen, Noah Lucas (1995). Israel: the first decade of independence. https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z73ADzNJAMC&pg=PA371&dq=Moshe+Vilenski&hl=en&ei=TL81TsS-JMzq0QHptLWADA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Moshe%20Vilenski&f=false. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Zohar, Itamar (August 20, 2010). "Sublime experience". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/sublime-experience-1.309225. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Jack Gottlieb (2004). Funny, it doesn't sound Jewish: how Yiddish songs and synagogue melodies influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood. SUNY Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=-jQzZfNYKWsC&pg=PA171&dq=Moshe+Wilensky&hl=en&ei=ltY1TqDVB8a30AG-hYXkCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Moshe%20Wilensky&f=false. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ Handelzalts, Michael (June 7, 2007). "Comfortable in her own skin". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/comfortable-in-her-own-skin-1.222585. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ↑ "Israel Prize Official Site – Recipients in 1983 (in Hebrew)". http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashmag/Tashnab_Tashmag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashmag.
- ↑ Helen Kaye (January 1, 1998). "And the winners are ...". The Jerusalem Post. https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/25160490.html?dids=25160490:25160490&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+01%2C+1998&author=Helen+Kaye&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=And+the+winners+are..&pqatl=google. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
External links[]
The original article can be found at Moshe Wilensky and the edit history here.