Moses Pergament
{{Short description|Finnish-Swedish composer and conductor (1893–1977)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Moses Pergament
| image = MosesPergament.jpg
| caption = Pergament in 1963
| birth_date = 21 September 1893
| birth_place = Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|03|05|1893|09|21|df=y}}
| death_place = Stockholm, Sweden
| genre = Classical
| occupation = Composer, conductor
| years_active = 1917–1975
| spouse = Ilse Maria Kutzleb (1923–1960)
}}
Moses Pergament (21 September 1893 – 5 March 1977) was a Finnish-Swedish composer, conductor, and music critic. He is largely seen as one of the most influential figures in the first generation of Swedish modernism.{{Citation |last=Rosengren |first=Henrik |title=Jewishness, Internationalism and the Swedish Music Scene – The Reception of Moses Pergament |date=2019-01-29 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004388291/BP000058.xml |work=A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1925–1950 |pages=849–859 |access-date=2023-08-18 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-38829-1}}
Biography
= Education =
Pergament studied music at various locations across Europe during his youth, including at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1908 and 1912. He then returned to Finland, studying at the University of Helsinki, and later moved to Sweden and studied at the Stockholm University in 1919, gaining Swedish citizenship a year prior. He studied at the Stern Conservatory of Berlin from 1921 to 1923.{{Cite web |title=Moses Pergament |url=https://jewishmusicandtheatre.org/people/24 |access-date=18 Aug 2023 |website=Jewish Music and Theatre}}
= Career =
He was a composer of primarily classical music,{{Cite web |title=Moses Pergament |url=https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/composer/1206/Moses-Pergament/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=www.wisemusicclassical.com |language=en}} having written four string quarters, a violin concerto, two piano concertos, and the choral symphony Den judiska sången, as well as various a cappella choir compositions. He made his compositional debut in Finland in 1914.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-23 |title="A Wagner of the Jews" – Moses Pergament |url=https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/see-and-do/events/a-wagner-of-the-jews-moses-pergament |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=My Helsinki |language=en}} He has also composed compositions for various Swedish films, one of them being Barabbas in 1953.
Pergament conducted both orchestras and choirs during his time as a composer. He was a music critic at the Svenska Dagbladet in 1923.{{Cite news |date=12 Feb 1931 |title=Den fynske Komponist har Sukces |language=da |pages=5 |work=Den Danske Pioneer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/885638812 |url-access=subscription |access-date=18 Aug 2023}} In the 1940s, the Lund University choir would perform some of his a capella compositions during a tour in the United States.{{Cite news |date=8 May 1947 |title=LUND UNIVERSITY SINGERS TO GIVE CONCERT |pages=4 |work=The Headlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/752504387 |url-access=subscription |access-date=18 Aug 2023}}
His symphony, Den judiska sången, was a piece that became famous among European Jewry due to its basis in the ongoing Holocaust in Europe at the time.{{Cite news |last=Anthony |first=Michael |date=8 Mar 1985 |title=Critics' choice |pages=8C |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/189896709 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 Aug 2023}} The composition, along with others that he would write, held many influences of Yiddish language and culture.
In 1952, he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. In 1967, he received the {{Ill|Medaljen för tonkonstens främjande|fr|4=sv}}.
= Personal life =
He married Ilse Maria Kutleb in 1923; she died in 1960. He died in Stockholm in 1977 at the age of 83.{{Cite web |title=Moses Pergament {{!}} Jewish Music Research Centre |url=https://jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/moses-pergament |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=jewish-music.huji.ac.il}}
He is the brother of Finnish composer Simon Parmet{{Cite web |date=13 Jun 2016 |title=Fragment of a letter by Simon Parmet to his brother Moses Pergament. |url=https://jewishmusicandtheatre.org/outputs/67 |access-date=18 Sep 2023 |website=jewishmusicandtheatre}} as well as uncle to Finnish pianist Erna Tauro through his brother Isak.{{Cite web |title=The Archives of Erna Tauro |url=https://www.yerusha-search.eu/viewer/metadata/NAF-19/1/ |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=European Jewish Archives Portal |language=sv}}
Selected works
- Duo for violin and cello op. 28 (1917)
- Sonata for violin and piano (1920)
- Krelantems och Eldeling, ballet music for orchestra (1921)
- String Quartet No. 1 (1922)
- Rapsodia ebraica (1935){{Cite web |title=Rapsodia ebraica (Hebrew Rhapsody) {{!}} Moses Pergament – Daniels' Orchestral Music Online |url=https://daniels-orchestral.com/moses-pergament/rapsodia-ebraica-hebrew-rhapsody/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |language=en-US}}
- Swedish Rhapsody for orchestra (1941)
- Den judiska sången ("Jewish song"), choral symphony for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1944)
- Dibbuk (1948)
- String Quartet No. 2; Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra (1952)
- Cellokonzert (1954)
- Concerto for cello and orchestra (1955)
- Five sketches for string quartet (1956)
- Concerto for viola and orchestra (1964)
- String Quartet No. 3 (1967)
- Sonata for flute and piano (1968)
- String Quartet No. 4; Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra (1975)
= Film soundtracks =
- They Staked Their Lives (1940)
- The Girl and the Devil (1944)
- Barabbas (1953)
References
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDJYtHSFtWQ Recording of The Jewish Song (1944)] at YouTube
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5u3jVlGxTM Recording of Dibbuk (1948)] at YouTube
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM8ZsEHZvBk Recording of Cellokonzert (1954)] at YouTube
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pergament, Moses}}
Category:Finnish conductors (music)
Category:Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni
Category:Finnish music critics
Category:University of Helsinki alumni
Category:Stockholm University alumni