Yaacov Levanon
Composer
Yaacov Levanon (originally
Yaacov Bilansky) (
Korets,
Ukraine 1895-
Jerusalem,
Israel 1965) was a Jewish musician and composer in the
British Mandate of Palestine and later
Israel.
The son of a
haskalah scholar from
Novohrad-Volynskyy (
Samuel Bilansky), Levanon was trained at the conservatory in
Mykolaiv,
Ukraine. After serving in the
Red Army he emigrated in 1919 to
Palestine, where he established himself as a composer and music teacher. His opus includes music for operettas, films (including the first Hebrew-language talking film,
This is the Land [
zot hi ha'aretz], 1935), instrumental pieces, and children's songs.
Yaacov Levanon, who taught in Arab schools in Jerusalem, was commissioned by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Amin al-Husayni, to establish a children's orchestra to entertain, among other things, for the holiday
Eid ul-Fitr. The relationship between them remained cordial until the
1929 Hebron massacre, in which the Mufti played a major role. Ironically, the Mufti embraced Levanon, a Jew, while on the other hand he went to Germany to meet Hitler to plan the
final solution in Palestine.
*
This is the Land / Zot hi-ha'aretz listing, Fritz Bauer Institut*
Pictures of Y. Bilansky Levanon*
Homepage of Prof. Haim Levanon
