Re: Rebbe Abimelechs tanz

[Lori Cahan-Simon <lsimon...>]

At 09:54 PM 08/18/1999 -0400, you wrote:
>
>On Sat, 14 Aug 1999, Lucy Fisher wrote:
>
>>The tune sounds to me very like the English folk song 'Old King Cole'.
>>Lucy
>
>This is fascinating!  I just emailed Helen, who'd asked about this Hasidic
>tanz, privately (cuz I'm just now catching up with old listmail), to say:
>
> I don't know anything about dance, Jewish or Celtic, but it's probably
> called Rebbe Elimelech's Tanz, rather than Abimelech.  Rebbe Elimelech,
> z"l, was a well-known second generation Hasidic rebbe.  The name is
> Biblical and means "My G-d is King".  Abimelech means "My father is
> King" - an unlikely Jewish name [even, I'll add now, on the rare
> occasions when it happens to be true].
>
>There's a famous song about Rebbe Elimelech, called Un Az Der Rebbe
>Elimelech (it also just came up, coincidentally, in the Leonard Cohen
>thread here).  The notable thing is that the words to the song are also
>a Yiddish version of the Old King Cole theme:
>
>  Un az der Rebbe Elimelech iz gevorn zeyr freylech
>    iz gevorn zeyr freylech, Elimelech
>  Hot er oysgeton di tfiln, un hot ongeton di briln
>    un hot geshikt noch di fidlers di tzvey
>
>  Un az di fideldike fidlers hobn fideldik gefidelt
>    hobn fideldik gefidelt hobn zey
>
>  And as the Rebbe Elimelech is getting very happy
>  He takes off his tefillin, and puts on his glasses
>    and he sends for the two fiddlers
>
>  And as the fiddly fiddlers fiddlingly fiddled
>    fiddlingly did they fiddle...
>
>...and so on.  
>
>I didn't think I knew the music of the tanz until I read your message,
>Lucy; now I think it's to this same song.  I never connected the song with
>Old King Cole musically before, despite the obvious textual connection,
>and I'm still not sure cuz I don't know the OKC tune so well.  But
>listening to them both now in my head, I think it is the same melody or
>very close, just transposed into a different mode.  (What do we call
>modes here, ta'amim?)
>
>It's not so surprising to me that I'd have missed the melodic similarity
>until now (if I'm not making it up).  For another good example of how
>similar-yet-different a tune is when it's rendered in another mode, think
>of I'm a Little Teapot and Hatikvah (courtesy of my ethnomusicologist/
>librarian friend Hugh "Pogo" Blackmer). 
>
>Now I'm really curious about the history that connects these two songs!
>
>-Hayyim


Dear folks,

I, personally, don't see much connection between the tunes, but the
text...very similar.  

I quote from the comments on "Der Rebe Elimeylekh" in the wonderful book of
Yiddish songs, _Mir Trogn a Gezang_:

        A Yiddish version of the English song, "Old King Cole".  Poem and       
music
by Moshe Nadir (1885-1943).  One folklorized version was        published by M.
Nadir in 1927, as well as in the author's book _A       Lomp Oyfn Fenster_ in 
1929.
  
The last stanza of the original text reads:

         "Er hot geton a gutn genets / Un gezogt: me darf shoyn meyn nit! /     
Un
geshikt di kapelye aheym.  Di shikere kapelye fun Rebn Meylekh- Elye, / Hot
oysgeshtelt dem dales a fayg. / Di freylekhe kapelye hot        gehopket biz der
stelye / Un zikh farbitn mit di klaper-getsayg."

        Di fidldike poyker hobn tsimbldik gefidlt, / Un bronfndik gegosn        
zikh mit
vayn. / Di lustike klezmorim mit flesher untern orem, /         Hobn gehulyet 
bizn
heln tog arayn."

The book translates incompletely and rather unpoetically:  "He yawned, said
it was enough, and sent his musicians home.  The drunken band of Rabbi
Meylekh-Elye danced and cavorted merrily, exchanging instruments.  They
caroused until dawn."

Since OKC is a much older song than DRE, it is entirely possible that Nadir
get the idea from it, but whether he knew either English or OKC or a
translation thereof, I am clueless.  In either case, what he created is a
clever, humorous, and way fun song to sing.  You try saying: "Un di
paykldike payklers hobn paykldik gepayklt, hobn paykldik gepayklt, hobn
zey.  Un di paykldike payklers hobn paykldik gepayklt, hobn paykldik
gepayklt, hobn zey." or "Un di tsimbldike tsimblers hobn tsimbldik
getsimblt, hobn tsimbldik getsimblt hobn zey.  Un di tsimbldike tsimblers
hobn tsimbldik getsimblt, hobn tsimbldik getsimblt hobn zey."  :-)

I even have another verse on an old recording on 78, which says: "Un az der
rebe Elimeylekh iz gevorn zeyer shtark freylekh / Iz gevorn zeyer shtark
freylekh Elimeylekh. / Hot er oysgeton dem talis, / Un gevashn zikh tsu
khales / un geshikt nokh di fayflers di tsvey. / Un az di fayfldike
fayflers..."

Which, according to my poor translation, means:  "And when Rabbi Elimeylekh
grew strongly merry...he took off his tallis, and washed himself according
to law, and summoned his two flautists.  And when the flutey flautists
fluted flutily..."  

I'm not quite sure about the khales bit.  Can anyone verify it or correct me?

Hope this has been enlightening, or at least, amusing.

Lori
Lori Cahan-Simon

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+