Alexander Uriah Boskovich

Alexander Uriah Boskovich (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, 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 to the premiere of his composition "Jewish Folk Songs" which was performed by the newly founded Palestinian (Jewish) Orchestra. One consequence of that event was that Boskovich decided to stay in the country and settle in Tel Aviv.
Writing in the Land of Israel had a profound effect on Boskovich; effect of the varied country's landscapes, the colors of sand and sea, and the sounds of the local music that originated from the various Jewish ethnic groups, as well as from the non-Jewish ones. In the 1940s and the early 1950s, Boskovich formulated and advocated the concept of Mediterranean Music.