Alexander Uriah Boskovich

Alexander (Sándor) Uriah Boskovich (Hebrew: אלכסנדר (שאנדור) אוריה בּוֹסְקוֹביץ‎‎; August 16, 1907 – November 5, 1964) was an Israeli composer.

Boskovich was born in Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania). The origin of his family and of his name was the town Boskovich in Moravia. In Cluj, Boskovich studied in a Jewish high school called "Culture" which accommodated both Neolog and Orthodox Jews. In 1920, Alexander joined the local Jewish organization "Hashomer" in which he was active for four years.

In 1937, Boskovich sent a piano version of his work "The Golden Chain" to the conductor Issay Dobrowen. This work, based on Jewish songs from the Carpathian Mountains, was originally written for piano and later on, in 1936, transcribed for orchestra. In 1938, Dobrowen suggested to the "Palestinian Orchestra" to embed this work in a concert under his baton. Boskovich was invited (from abroad) to the premiere of his composition "Jewish Folk Songs" which was performed by the newly founded Palestinian (Jewish) Orchestra. (Later on, that orchestra evolved into the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.) One consequence of that event was that Boskovich decided to stay in the country and settle in Tel Aviv. In the coming years, Boskovich often said that Dobrowen, "The Golden Chain", and the orchestra's invitation saved his life.

One of the cornerstones in the development of the art of music in Israel during the Yishuv period was the performance of Boskovich's Semitic Suite by the Histadrut Orchestra under the baton of Frank Pelleg. Immediately after his arrival in Israel, Boskovich changed his writing style as is well manifested by his Semitic Suite---from the tonality of Europe into textures that imitated the Oud or the Arab Kanun.

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