Gilboa, Jacob

(b Kosice, 2 May 1920). Israeli composer of Czech birth. At first educated in Vienna, he emigrated to Israel in 1938 studying architecture at the Haifa Technological Institute and music at the Jerusalem Music Academy and Teachers Seminary, from which he graduated in 1947. His composition teachers were Tal and Ben-Haim. Before 1957 Gilboa's music was tonal, showing the Middle Eastern influence typical of the Israeli 'Mediterranean' style. After attending the Cologne new music courses given by Stockhausen and Pousseur in 1963, his work changed radically to include clusters, quarter-tones, electronics and unconventional instrumental combinations, generally deployed in miniature forms. Among many awards he won the Israel Composers and Authors Association Prize on four occasions and the Prime Minister's Award in 1983; he has also represented Israel at the ISCM festival four times (1969, 1973, 1978, 1989). In 1973 he contributed an untitled article, and one on the 1973 ISCM Festival in Reykjavik, to the periodical Musical Prose (no.1, p.7; no.3--4, p.1); in 1983 he wrote on 'Fashions and Styles' in the yearbook New Music in Israel (1981--3, pp.24--6).

WORKS
(selective list)
Inst: Crystals, fl, va, vc, pf, perc, 1967; Pastels, 2 prepared pf, 1970; Cedars, orch, 1971--2; Lament of Klonimos, orch, 1974; Microtoccata, pf, 1976; Kathros u-Psanterin, orch, 1978; Kathros, vn, 1979; Reflections on 3 Chords of Alban Berg, pf, 1979; Gittit, chbr orch, hp/pf obbl, 1980; 7 Ornaments on a Theme by Paul Ben-Haim, pf, orch, 1981; Sonata, vc, pf, 1983; Str Qt, 1984; 3 Lyric Pieces in Mediterranean Style, chbr orch, 1984; Ce qu'a vu le vent d'est, pf, 1985; 3 Strange Visions of Hieronymus Bosch, org, 1987; Blossoms in the Desert, fl, pf, 1993
Vocal: 12 Glass Windows of Chagall in Jerusalem, S, 5 female vv, ens, 1966; Dew, children's chorus, hp, 1972; Irit Flowers, C, fl, vn, va, vc, perc, 1986; Steps of Spring, children's/women's chorus, 1986; Lyric Triptychon, Mez, girls' chorus, synth, chbr orch, 1992; 4 Gobelins for Franz Kafka, S, vn, va, vc, hp, pf, 1993
Works with tape: From the Dead Sea Scrolls, chorus, children's chorus, 2 org, orch, tape, 1972; Bedu: Metamorphoses on a Bedouin Call, Bar, fl, vn, vc, pf, tape, 1975; The Beth-Alpha Mosaic, Mez, chbr ens, tape, 1976; 3 Red Sea Impressions, vn, cl, gui, hp, org, pf, tape, 1978; 3 Vocalises for Peter Breughel, Mez, chbr orch, tape, 1979; The Grey Colours of Kathe Kollwitz, Mez, chbr orch, synth, tape, 1990
MSS in IL-J, Tmi
Principal publisher: Israeli Music Publications

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Y.W. Cohen: Werden und Entwicklung der Musik in Israel (Kassel, 1976) [pt ii of rev. edn of M. Brod: Die Musik Israels], 64, 85, 88, 138--9
P. Gradenwitz: Music and Musicians in Israel (Tel-Aviv, 1978), 21--2, 123, 128
Z. Keren: Contemporary Israeli Music (Ramat Gan, 1980), 85--7
D. Golomb and B.-Z. Orgad: Guide for Listening to Israeli Compositions (Tel-Aviv, 1984), 120--30
A. Tischler: A Descriptive Bibliography of Art Music by Israeli Composers (Warren, MI, 1988), 110--13
O. Tourny: Jacob Gilboa: Compositeur israelien contemporain (Lyons, 1988)
 

URY EPPSTEIN