Re: Yiddish Piano-Vocal collections (was: Yiddish poetry)

[Lori M Simon <lorelecs...>]

I have that particular Belarsky book, too, and have enjoyed the
arrangements.  Much of the music and the arrangements are by Belarsky
himself.
Lorele

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 19:58:05 -0500 Sam Weiss <SamWeiss (at) 
bellatlantic(dot)net>
writes:
> 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=Bela
rsky+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 
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