RE: l "Shnirele Perele Gilderne Fon" - Tangential

[Mel Korn <mkorn...>]

 With all of the discussion, I of course had to give the tune another
listen. Of course if I was going to listen to one tune from Rythym and Jews,
well I must give the entire wonderful CD a listen! While listening, some
memories and thoughts, some deeply personal and emotional came to me, and I
thought I would share them. I also wanted Lorin to know the effect and the
magic his art can have.

The melody is very similar to a song I learned in 1962, in preparation for
our ?Chagigat Bereishit? in grade 2 at Montreal?s United Talmud Torah. I do
not know the name of the song, but the opening words were ?Na?aleh L?
artzeinu B?rinah?, perhaps someone on the list knows the song I am alluding
to, and what the name is, as well as the rest of the words. I seem to recall
that we marched into the auditorium, in front of all of our teachers and
parents as Mr. Botwinick played the melody. (I know that someone on this
list knows his son Alex, now living in Philadelphia, so perhaps you can let
him know that there has been yet another reference to him).

The song, which follows on the CD, is ?Der Yidisher Soldat In Di Trenthses?.
I do not know if it was intentional, but I was struck that it was a
fascinating juxtaposition. On the one hand, Shnirele Perele is a deeply
spiritual song, with Hasidic roots and themes, while the Der Yidisher?.?
speaks to the poor soldier conscripted into the army of their tormentors.
How many of these soldiers were from Chasidic backgrounds before being
thrust into the dark ugly world of these Eastern European armies, fraught
with anti Semitism? My father, A?H? was born in Lodz, the son of a Melamed
who prepared boys for Yeshiva. In his youthful idealism, he dreamt and
indeed prepared to make aliyah to a religious kibbutz, where he could
fulfill his dreams as a religious Jew. Unfortunately, he was conscripted
into the Polish army, were he faced outrageous anti Semitism, (in fact on
the night that the Nazi?s invaded Poland, his own commander tried to shoot
him). So 2 songs from our vast world of Jewish music, one inspired by the
spiritual, the other with the mundane, and representative of at least one
life experience!

Mel



----- Original Message -----
From: abraham pupko <mailto:comapk (at) prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <mailto:jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2003 10:23 PM

Dear chaverim:
Chanuka Sameach!
A friend of mine bought an album with 2 CD's The Soul of Klezmer, I realy
gat fascinate with them, but in the CD 2, the first song MIPNEI MA, with
Frank London, Lorine Sklamberg and Uri Caine, and the last song SHNIRELE
PERELE, with The Klezmorim, I
couldn't stop to listen them, I would very appreciate if somebody can get
for me the words. Thank you.
 Abraham Pupko