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Paul Ben-Haim

Israeli composer (1897–1984)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ215982 ↗
Source-derived summary

Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim, Hebrew: פאול בן חיים; 5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli composer.

Biography

Paul Frankenburger (later Ben-Haim) was born in Munich, Germany. He studied composition with Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch from 1920 to 1924. He served as conductor at Augsburg from 1924 to 1931, and afterwards devoted himself to teaching and composition, including teaching at the Shulamit Conservatory in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ben-Haim immigrated to British Mandate of Palestine in 1933 and lived in Tel Aviv, near Zina Dizengoff Square. He Hebraized his name, becoming an Israeli citizen upon that nation's independence in 1948.

Music career

Ben-Haim composed chamber music, works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments, and songs. He championed a specifically Jewish national music: his own compositions are in a late Romantic vein with Middle Eastern overtones, somewhat similar to Ernest Bloch.

Ben-Haim's Symphony No. 1 premiered in 1941.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Paul Ben-Haim” as israeli composer (1897–1984). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1897, 1984, 1920, 1924—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1897-07-05. The account is most persuasive where Paul, Ben-Haim and Israeli can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as israeli composer (1897–1984). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q215982. VIAF identifies the subject as 51879805. The Library of Congress control number is n81090592. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1984, 1920 and 1924.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Paul Ben-Haim”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Paul Ben-Haim primary sources, Paul Ben-Haim archive and Paul research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paul Ben-Haim”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Paul Ben-Haim” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.