Composer

Erich Walter Sternberg (Berlin, 1891 – Tel-Aviv 1974, immigrated in 1932) was the first local composer performed by the Palestine Orchestra (1937). His style was mostly conservative, post-Romantic, fluent and rich. His works were later often related as “non-local,” or “more Jewish than Israeli” because of that Zeitgeist favoring East-West syntheses, and hence under-appreciated – as was his major work, The Twelve Tribes of Israel — symphonic variations that he wrote in 1938.

Full biography in Milken Archive.

Samuel Naumbourg was born in Dennelohe, Bavaria, groomed from a young age to continue the long line of professional hazzanim in his family. He received his formal musical education in Munich where he was recruited to sing in Maier Kohn’s synagogue choir.  Naumbourg’s early appointments included a cantorial post in Besançon and a position as choirmaster of the Synagogue in Strasburg.

Full biography in Milken Archive.

Born in Novogrudok, Russia. Officiated as cantor in various European communities and in South Africa before immigrating to Israel in 1932, where he became a popular cantor in Tel Aviv. Has published Kol Yisrael, a two-volume work containing his compositions and arrangements of traditional tunes.