Re: Pedotser and Guzikov

[Judy Pinnolis <pinnolis...>]

Josh:
Q:
Can you tell me if these (19 variations) manuscripts are available in a
library or are privately held? And if so, have you seen them?
Judy


The 19 Variations of Pedotser,
however, are yet to be published. They are written for solo violin and
are virtuosic-sounding and well written, if not a bit schematically
conceived -


At 09:26 PM 11/30/99 +0100, you wrote:
>To continue on... Matt Jaffey wrote in his email the following some time
>ago:
>
>Here's another comment by Zev made at a workshop in KlezKanada led by
>Kurt Bjorling. Something like: "There is a strong possibility that a
>large part of the European klezmer repertoire was composed by two
>virtuoso musicians - the violinist Peducer and the tsimblist Gusikow".
>That sounds pretty controversial. Does it make any sense?
>
>My answer:
>That's a bit mouthful. Assuming that this could be an overstatement
>resulting from its being repeated 2nd hand, I want to say a coupla
>things, because the more general theme here is the relationship of the
>individual composer to the genre. 
>
>The known facts about Pedotser (or Peducer or Aron Moyshe Kholodenko,
>which was his name at birth):
>
>He was born in Berdichev, lived 1828-1902. He had many students. Some of
>his pieces were written down, probably by his students, but the person
>credited by Beregovski for meticulously preserving Pedotsers notebooks
>was Nokhem Noten, who was probably so-named precisely because he wrote
>*noten* (which means musical notes in Yiddish). Nokhem lived around the
>same time as Pedotser (1839-1905) and was born in Podoloy. He had works
>sent to him by coach from Uman, amoung which were the works of Pedotser.
>Possibly Pedotser had notated some of these himself. Nokhem led a
>kapelye in Bershad. His son, Moyshe David (b. 1871) was one of
>Beregovski's informants. Nokhem gave his notebooks to Beregovski. 
>Beregovski published some of the pieces. The 19 Variations of Pedotser,
>however, are yet to be published. They are written for solo violin and
>are virtuosic-sounding and well written, if not a bit schematically
>conceived - not great art by the standards set up by the heavyweight
>classical variation composers of the 19th century, but certainly
>interesting as a crossover between the folk and classical milieaus of
>the 19th century. Believe it or not, one of his compositions was learned
>by another important informant of Beregovski's, Gershfeld, whose
>grandson(?), Joseph Viazovsky (St. Petersburg) learned it from him and
>still plays it! Izaly Zemtsovski made a tape of him some years ago and
>gave it to me. Pedotser also composed good-ol' melodies as well, but so
>did:
>
>Yossele Druker (also from Berdichev, otherwise known as Stempenyu ,
>1822-1876) and his father: Sholem Druker (1798-1876). 
>
>In summary, as regards Pedotser, it would be more accurate to say that a
>good portion of Beregovski's finer wrought compositions came from the
>above composers than to say that  *There is a strong possibility that a
>large part of the EUROPEAN klezmer repertoire* was composed by them.
>
>As for Guzikov, I would have to disappoint you there. While it's true
>that Guzikov played Jewish and Gentile weddings BEFORE he was famous,
>his longest concert stop on his monumental European tour was in Vienna,
>where he stayed for many months, and by the time he was making this
>tour, he was no longer playing weddings, just concerts. I've gathered as
>much as I could find on him there (over 20 pages of newspaper reviews, 1
>poster, poems, lithographs, Lexicon entries, etc.) Guzikov's fame rested
>upon his ability to make virtuosic variations on light classical themes
>on his primitive xylophone. There is only one actual known composition
>of his - a setting of Shir Ha Milot. Pretty rudimentary, in F freygish,
>published first by the Khazan, A.M. Bernstein (1866-1932). Otherwise,
>his fame rested upon his outspinnings of Weber, Hummel, Hoffmeister,
>Paganini, etc. Yes, his concert programmes did include *Fantasias and
>Variations* on Polish, Russian, French, German and even Jewish folk
>tunes, but these were generally played as encores or as the last pieces
>on his program. He could not have penetrated the upper crust as he did
>with these alone, but rather used them for effect. Before he played the
>xylophone, his main instrument was the flute, prior to which he dabbled
>with the tsimbl as a kid. 
>
>Guzikov's fame as a legendary klezmer today has rested upon scant,
>hopeful statements by Idelssohn and Beregovski, who tried to raise the
>status of Jewish folk art by using Guzikov as a *klezmer who made it
>big.* Neither Idelsohn nor Beregovski researched and analyzed what kind
>of music Guzikov's fame rested upon, nor the basis of his fame. There is
>no evidence whatsoever which points to Guzikov's music having entered
>the general functional klezmer repertoire of the 19th century. 
>
>What I find more interesting is the fact that both Pedotser and Guzikov
>placed such importance on the Variation form. In light of the fact that
>this was the quintessential form for showcasing virtuosic instrumental
>talent in the classical world in the early 19th Century ( as opposed to
>the earlier Rococco Sonatas, Baroque Ricercares and Fugues, and
>Renaissance Pavannes and Preludiae) this is interesting in that it shows
>early examples of Klezmer musicians with a foot in both worlds striving
>to synthezise them musically, meaning that the chasm between folk and
>classical was not as big as some historians and observers would like us
>to believe, and that the sophistication we find in klezmer music today
>has a longer history than ideological depictions suggest. 
>
>There were other famous tsimblists as well, including Jankiel Cimbalist
>(formerly Liebermann), and Mordko Fajerman (1810-1880) both of whom
>played tsimbl, both of whom might also have played variations. On the
>new Budowitz CD, I have recorded a Theme and Variations for the Tsimbl
>which follows that cryptic lost *tradition* (Attention! Plug!)
>
>So that's all for now. Josh
>
>
>

Judith S. Pinnolis
Reference Librarian,
Coordinator for Publications and Training
Brandeis University Libraries
P.O Box 9110  MS045
415 South Street                                
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
phone:781-736-4705
fax: 781-736-4719
email: pinnolis (at) brandeis(dot)edu

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