Re: Fw: Joseph Achron

[eliott kahn <elkahn...>]

Bob:

Thanks so much for the recommendation. I wasn't aware of this recording. Do 
you have the label, number and year of publication? I presume it's Israeli, 
and will try our Israeli sources for it.

Eliott K.

At 02:17 PM 1/6/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm re-sending the post below because it's been 30 minutes since I
>first sent it and I haven't received it yet.  Apologies if it comes
>through twice.
>
>Bob
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: robert wiener <wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com>
>To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Date: Thursday, January 06, 2000 1:42 PM
>Subject: Joseph Achron
>
>
> >Judy and Eliot,
> >
> >If it's Achron's violin music you're  after, including the Stempenyu
> >Suite (and 21 other pieces), try to get a copy of the CD "Stempenyu:
> >The violin music of Joseph Achron" performed by Hagai Shaham (violin)
> >and Arnon Erez (piano) with notes in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish!
> >
> >Bob
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Judy Pinnolis <pinnolis (at) brandeis(dot)edu>
> >To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> >Date: Thursday, January 06, 2000 12:28 PM
> >Subject: Re: "elevating" ("improving") folk music
> >
> >
> >>Eliot:
> >>And I wanted to congratulate you (and Julie) on that excellent
> >publication
> >>from JTS: the "Inventory of the Solomon Rosowsky Collection"
> >published in
> >>1996, but also your newly released "Inventory of the Max Wohlberg
> >>Collection." I just started to take a look at those yesterday and
> >they're
> >>wonderfully helpful reference additions to help people locate
> >archival
> >>sources.
> >>
> >>I agree with you that more attention to Joseph Achron's music! If I
> >recall
> >>(this stretched the memory some and I had to look it up), several
> >>compositions were attributed to him in the 1932 Union Hymnal.
> >Actually,
> >>this, the UH, was my first exposure to Joseph Achron, believe it or
> >not.
> >>(Amazing to think about now.)
> >>
> >>Judy
> >>
> >>At 06:03 PM 1/5/00 -0500, you wrote:
> >>>Robert:
> >>>
> >>>RE: The Society for Jewish Folk Music. There were quite a few
> >branches but
> >>>the two most important ones were at Moscow, founded by Joel
>(Julius)
> >Engel,
> >>>and the one at St. Petersburg, founded a little later, in 1908, by
>a
> >few
> >>>composition students at the Conservatory there (L. Saminsky, S.
> >Rosowsky,
> >>>E. Skliar).
> >>>
> >>>An interesting anecdote: When author Sholom Aleichem was first
> >informed of
> >>>the St. Petersburg Society's goals of collecting tunes in the Pale
> >of
> >>>Settlement and using them as the basis for art songs and chamber
> >works, he
> >>>warned the members to make sure (I paraphrase) "that the tunes
>don't
> >freeze
> >>>on the way to St. Petersburg." According to accounts by S. Rosowsky
> >and L.
> >>>Saminsky, however, he soon became an ardent supporter of the
> >Society's
> >>>goals. During its brief ten-year existence (1908-1918), The Society
> >gave
> >>>over 1200 concerts to adoring masses of Zionists throughout the
>Pale
> >of
> >>>Settlement. They were proud, indeed, that what were once considered
> >>>"kitchen songs" were now works of art in very sophisticated, yet
> >>>accessible, chamber music and art song settings.
> >>>
> >>>The folks here who frequently refer to the Beregovski Collection
> >should
> >>>realize that the core of the collection that Beregovski cataloged,
> >>>transcribed, and annotated in the 1920s-1930s were the cylinder
> >recordings
> >>>made during the Baron Horace von Ginsbourg Expedition of ca.
> >1913-1914. The
> >>>two ethnomusicologists who made these field recordings were Joel
> >Engel
> >>>(somewhere in the Pale, I forget), and Lazare Saminsky in the
> >Caucausus
> >>>region. As you can see, both these men were instrumental in
>founding
> >the
> >>>Societies for Jewish Folk Music. I believe that Engel is referred
>to
> >in
> >>>Israel as "the father of Jewish music."
> >>>The lost cylinders were recently recovered and are now at the
> >Vrenadsky
> >>>Library in Kiev. The recently published CD was just a sampler
> >compiled by
> >>>the Library from the many cylinders in their possession.
> >>>
> >>>I hope folks won't sell this art music short before they've heard
> >it. At
> >>>the present time I am not aware of any performances that do this
> >music
> >>>justice. Joseph Achron (another member of the St. Petersburg
> >Society) was a
> >>>virtuoso violinist who studied with Leopold Auer -teacher of
> >Heifetz,
> >>>Gingold, Elmann, Milstein, etc. You've no doubt heard Heifetz' (and
> >>>Perlmann's) performance of Achron's "Hebrew Melody." But I would
> >love to
> >>>hear a passionate, accurate performance of his "Stempenyu Suite,"
> >among
> >>>other works. I would wager that you'd hear the same type of fire
>and
> >>>authenticity that you hear in Bartok, if the right players were to
> >perform
> >>>this music.
> >>>
> >>>Arnold Schoenberg actually had very high praise for Achron's music;
> >they
> >>>knew each other in Los Angeles. Other St. Petersburg Folk Music
> >Society
> >>>composers of note were Moses Milner and Alexander Krein. The
>Society
> >for
> >>>Jewish Music at St. Petersburg published over eighty pieces during
> >their
> >>>brief ten-year existence. Most of the music I've looked at strikes
> >me as
> >>>extremely tasteful and well-wrought--and very authentically Jewish.
> >>>
> >>>We have Solomon Rosowsky's Archive here at the Seminary Library,
>and
> >in
> >>>1996, we published an Inventory of the collection by myself and
> >archivist
> >>>Julie Miller.
> >>>
> >>>Eliott Kahn, D.M.A.
> >>>Music Archivist
> >>>Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
> >>>3080 Broadway
> >>>New York, N.Y. 10027
> >
> >
>


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