Grad, Gabriel

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Grad, Gabriel

Grad, Gabriel, Lithuanian composer; b. Retovo, near Kovno, July 9, 1890; d. Tel Aviv, Dec. 9, 1950. Hep studied in Ekaterinoslav and in Berlin. He was founder-director of a Jewish music school in Kovno (1920-22). He went to Palestine in 1924, and then was founder-director of the Benhetov Cons, in Tel Aviv (from 1925). He wrote an opera, Judith and Holofernes, and about 250 other works, including chamber music, piano pieces, choruses, and songs, many of which were based on Jewish folk melodies.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire