Yiddish Piano-Vocal collections (was: Yiddish poetry)

[Sam Weiss <SamWeiss...>]

Here's a guide to =commercially available= collections of Yiddish 
sheet-music with full piano accompaniment. The distinction between Yiddish 
folk, popular, and art songs is not as straightforward or useful as one 
might think; this is exemplified by one of the best collections in the mold 
of the Lazar Weiner settings, "Eight Songs From Jewish Folklore" edited by 
Samuel Rosenbaum; published by Cantors Assembly but also available from 
Tara Publication's website www.jewishmusic.com

By far the best collection of Yiddish poetry set to music -- with fairly 
accurate Yiddish transliterations, to boot -- are the 77 songs contained in 
the
"Sidor Belarsky Songbook" published by Queens College.  [This is not the 
same as the somewhat less useful Belarsky book "My Favorite Songs".]  These 
heartfelt settings are simpler than the Weiner material, and the 
serviceable piano parts are not very ambitious, but they come with the 
incomparable advantage of being able to hear Belarsky's interpretations of 
them, scattered among his many recordings.  This book is hard to come by, 
but I've noticed it at these two sites:
http://www.stagepass.com/groupartist/artist_item_detail.hperl?Artist=Belarsky+S&Invnum=330709

http://www.piano-pal.com/jewish.htm

Clearly in the art-song category are the accompaniments in Tara 
Publication's reprint volume "The St. Petersburg Society For Jewish Folk 
Music," with a marvelous introduction by Irene Heskes. More than half of 
the twenty-five songs are Yiddish. They are reprints of the original 
editions, in varied non-standard transliterations.  (Note that Tara lists 
the book's author as Velvel Pasternak.)

Four volumes of artistic Yiddish settings by Vladimir Heifetz are available 
from Tara, though not all are for solo voice.  "A Ghetto Cantata," "Music 
of Vladimir Heifetz," "Oyfn Fidl," and "The Shofar".

Most of the songs in the seven-volume series of Tara reprints "Great Jewish 
Classics" have full accompaniment. There are some gems scattered 
among  these 100 or so songs. About 75% of the collection is in Yiddish.

Transcontinental Music http://www.etranscon.com  has a small list of 
Yiddish art songs, in addition to its Lazar Weiner collections: Helen 
Greenberg's settings of five poems by female poets, "Froyen Shtimme" and 
Simon Sargon's "At Grandmother's Knee" and "Ash un Flamen".

The following Tara collections that are clearly in the "popular" category 
contain simple piano accompaniments:  "The Yiddish Anthology," "Yiddish 
Song Favorites," "Great Jewish Folksongs".

In the same category is "Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre," originally 
published in 1975 by New York Times Books.  The re-issue is available from 
various sources, though not from Tara.



_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ


_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ


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