Tzvi Avni’s Late Style and His Three Newest Works

Abstract

Tzvi Avni (b. 1927) is now Israel’s oldest composer. In 2020, Jehoash Hirshberg and Rakefet Bar-Sadeh published their book Tzvi Avni, his Life and Works (Carmel, Jerusalem, which includes Avni’s Autobiography). Since then, Avni has composed three new works: Shapes, for flute solo, completed in November 2020 (the original Hebrew title is Gvanim – Colors); About These Days, for string quartet, completed in April 2021; and Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, completed in 2022. The present article discusses the three new works in the context of Avni’s late style, which is dominated by a regression from avant-garde to classical form and mostly regular meter.