Polish Jewish Cabaret: a library of wonderful but forgotten Yiddish songs of the 1920s - 1930s. Have a listen!

This song was printed by Joseph Feldman in an issue (was it the only one?) of his "Yiddish Theatrical Magazine," shared with me by Steven Lasky. This melody sounds like a folk song and the words have that feel as well, but Feldman copyrighted the song (or at least he wrote here that he did).

Note the transliteration, Mazel, we bisty mazel, and on the lyrics page it says Mazel, mazel, wie bisty mazel? In standard (klal) Yiddish this would probably be Mazl mazl vu bistu mazl? (Luck, luck, where are you, luck?) but in the first verse it says: Wie bisty fun mir antrinen? In which case I like vi (how) rather than vu (where). YMMV I guess.



Here's my recording from half an hour ago:



Words and translation after the jump.

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Labels: battle between the sexes, folksong, modernity, nostalgia, yiddish song

I have the words for this one from a folio of Joseph Rumshinsky hits, and I have the record from eBay, so here it is. You'll find this song not only under the standard YIVO transliteration above, but under all these permutations: Mir Zol Zein Far Dir, Mir Sol Sein Far Dir, Mir Sol Zein Far Dir, Mir Zol Sein Far Dir. On the label the song is subtitled "Devotion." Rumshinsky takes credit for the music and Picon is credited for the lyrics. There is a much later recording by June Astor.

Zylberzweig says that in 1928 Jacob Kalich and Joseph Rumshinsky staged Dos tsirkus meydl (The Circus Girl), with Molly Picon as star of course, also starring Sam Kestin, Betty Simonoff, Gertrude Bulman and Irving Grossman -- in the show Molly sang this song, but the recording I have is of Irving. You can read about Irving Grossman (1900-1964) here.

Here it is, with subtitles and sing-along Yiddish captions in transliteration:


Words and translation after the jump.

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Labels: mother, nostalgia, yiddish song, yiddish theater song

I heard this song in Yiddish on Charles Goldszlagier's online radio station Yiddish pour tous and immediately recognized it as a close translation of the famous Я на камушке сижу - here's a recording of the Russian folksong sung by Сергей Лемешев (Sergei Lemeshov):


The song I heard on the Yiddish radio station was sung by the magnificent Netania Davrath and it's available on her cd Netania Davrath Sings Russian, Yiddish & Israeli Folk Songs.

Davrath was born in Russia in 1931 and moved to Israel with her family in 1948. Her voice has been described as "tender, strong, nasal, arch, shy, abandoned, free from vibrato, pure and clean and distinctly un-operatic." She died in 1987.

So here's her recording of this Russian folksong translated into Yiddish as Af a shteyndl (or Af a shteindel as it is on the cd)




Words and translation of the Russian and the Yiddish into English after the jump

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Labels: folksong, making a living (poverty), nostalgia, yiddish song

I recently received an email from Meryl Frank, retired United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. It read in part:

I am researching my cousin actress Franya Winter (nee Rosenrot) Punski, who started her career in the Yiddish Cabaret in Warsaw. I wonder if you have come across anything that mentions her. I've attached a sample of the photos of her that were found 40 years ago in a house that was about to be demolished in Paris.

I also understand that she had a lover by the name Rudolf Zaslavsky who was an actor, singer, songwriter. I wonder if his name may have some up in your research?

She also sent me an article about the donation of these photographs to the Mémorial de la Shoah:

... In 1975, comic book author Serge Mogère visited a house in Choisy-le-Roy threatened with demolition and found a magnificent old photo album, apparently left behind by the former owners. Intrigued by the family pictures, the faces and the period clothes, he decided to keep it. In February 2016, Mr. Mogère gave the album to the Shoah Memorial.

By dint of long, hard work, the archival staff eventually determined that the album dates back to the years 1920-1940 and had belonged to the Punski family, immigrants from Warsaw. It includes pictures of a famous actress, Franya Winter, executed by the Germans in 1942 in the town of Ashmyany (today in Belarus).

Meryl sent me some of the wonderful photos, see below.

I had not heard of these people, but am putting their names out in case others are researching them. If you have information for Meryl Frank and the rest of us, please contact me at jane@mappamundi.com - thanks!

Labels: warsaw, yiddish song

UPDATE: Reposted to add this video:


Or you can click the album cover to listen to and/or buy this track, Lebedige yesoimim, and all the others from our cd Nervez!

Randy Kloko sings this luscious waltz, Aviva Enoch plays piano. This song is the most obscure of three by the same name. The other two songs can be found in sheet music form, one with words by Max Zavodnik / music by Henry A. Russotto, the other by "Samuel Secunda."

This one, which Itzik Zhelonek cited as a song performed by Herman Fenigstein, I transcribed from Fenigstein's own recording, found at the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture.

Though the title is often translated 'lively orphans,' in this case it means 'children whose parents are still living, but who due to divorce now live like orphans.' The song changes point of view, from omniscient narrator to the orphan(s), sometimes addressing the parents, sometimes the children, sometimes God.

Divorce and its effect on children is an unusual theme for a Yiddish song. Have a listen, I think Randy kills it.

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Though Zhelonek took down the words shtub-mame un shtub-tate (house-mom and house-dad), and though he is citing the very recording I have (which is a rare happenstance!), I listened carefully and think Fenigstein is singing shtif-mame un shtif-tate (stepmother and stepfather). Also, inexplicably, Zhelonek's text gives shoyn dayn zind mer nisht dermonen, which is the opposite of what is sung.

Transliteration and translation below:
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Labels: home, modernity, yiddish song, yiddish theater song

Reposting for Passover!

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This song is found in Irene Heskes Yiddish American Popular Songs as Meh meynt nit di hagodoh, nur di kneydlakh translated in the index as "Attention is paid, not to the ritual [of Passover festive meal], but to the dumplings [food that is served]" or "People concentrate on the pleasures, but do not think about the responsibilities."

I got the sheet music from the Library of Congress, which has an amazing collection (and an extremely helpful and nice Judaica librarian, Sharon Horowitz.)

It was copyrighted in 1922 by composer Abe Schwartz, who spelled it thus: "Mi Meint Nit Di Agudi Nor Di Kneidlach"

I inveigled Mappamundi's wonderful bass player Jim Baird into playing this with me cold yesterday (neither of us had done it before) before a concert rehearsal. By the time I realized I was holding my paper in front of my head, the rehearsal was over and everybody was gone. Oh well.

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So here is our version, click to see and hear it:

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Here's my English translation of the Yiddish lyrics:

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Labels: battle between the sexes, fun, humor & satire, modernity, nostalgia, yiddish song

This morning I got an email titled: "Last hope but never give up." The writer was looking for a song she spelled this way: Avremerl der Fechster Marvicher

It's a very famous song by Mordechai Gebirtig (aka Mordkhe Gebirtig or Mordecai / Bertig). My correspondent's problem may have been her spelling, the title is usually transliterated more along the lines of Avreml der marvikher, though Avreimel, Avreyml etc. are also found.

Marvikher is often translated as "pickpocket" but also can mean "thief, fence, dealer in stolen articles." Feik means "capable, talented, competent" and feikster is the superlative form.

I found the song at the Yiddish Book Center's Archive in the collection called
(Dos gezang fun libshaft un tsar) (meaning the song of love and sorrow) - the first page facsimile is at the bottom of this post.

Here is the classic recording by Chava Alberstein on Youtube:


I wrote out the music and if you want it (with text, translations, chords, etc) for $2.50, click here:

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Here's my line-by-line English translation from the Yiddish:

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Labels: gangsters, making a living (poverty), nostalgia, persecution, warsaw, yiddish song

Isn't this a wonderful cover? Menakhem Kipnis was a collector of Yiddish folksongs; his two books (60 folkslider and 80 folkslider) have been Yiddish singers' bibles for decades. I recently put them together into one book and indexed them all over again so it is easier to find the songs. You can buy it cheap: Menakhem Kipnis 140 folkslider at Createspace.

While I was re-indexing I was intrigued by this particular drinking song. It's a witty conglomeration of Hebrew and Yiddish and as you'll see after the jump, it tells us that everybody, from the high and mighty to the lowly, likes to get drunk. I had a lot of help working it out.

Click here for Eylu voeylu sheet music:

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Here's the animated music video I made:



Eylu voeylu tsoyakim bokh

Balebatim hayoyshvim beboseyhem
Vshoysim yayin bikeleyhem
Eylu voeylu tsoyakim bokh
A trunk bronfn vilt zikh dokh

Balebatim vos voynen in eygene hayzer
Trinken oys bronfn gantse brayzer
Eylu voeylu tsoyakim bekoyl
A trunk bronfn iz dokh voyl

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Labels: booze, gangsters, humor & satire, klezmer, yiddish song

This song was copyrighted by Aaron Lebedeff in 1923 as "Shabes nuchen kigel" but it has become firmly associated with Mike & Pesachke Burstein (performing it in the video clip above). I have the sheet music, transcription, and translation available for anybody who is interested.

Labels: klezmer, nostalgia, religion, songs for sale, yiddish song, yiddish theater song

When my band Mappamundi was making the Cabaret Warsaw cd, we were looking for songs from the 1920s and 1930s which had both a Polish and a Yiddish version, and this song was one of them.

We wondered which came first until I found, at YIVO, Ben-Zion Witler's copy of this published sheet music for Nikodem with his own handwritten lyrics, in Yiddish, tucked inside. In my later research I've found several Polish songs which he re-wrote for his own repertoire.

The Polish version is about an obnoxious guy who thinks he's hot stuff. Witler's version is more interesting - it's about the anthropomorphized concept of Poverty as a sentient creature who comes to live with you and, sadly, like a leech of an uninvited guest, will not leave.

The only video I have is from the very first concert of the Cabaret Warsaw material. We had only just learned it...


We knew it better by the time we recorded it, have a listen here to the cut from our Cabaret Warsaw cd: Der Dales and Nikodem by Mappamundi.

We sang two of the three verses Witler recorded and then just the chorus of the Polish version (Nikodem) by Starski and Wars.

Here is a link to my sheet music version of this song with chords, lyrics, and translation, for a mere $2.50! Our mp3 version is included free with purchase of the lead sheet.

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Here's my translation of the Yiddish lyrics. For a charming description of "Der Dales" (Mr. Poverty) see the bottom of this post.
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Labels: booze, humor & satire, making a living (poverty), modernity, songs for sale, warsaw, yiddish performers, yiddish song, yiddish theater song

Itzik Zhelonek says to sing this to the melody of "Kortn" (Cards) but I've never seen that song either. Anybody know this one?

BANKROTN

Es iz haynt gevorn zeyer a shlekhte tsayt
Dos iz haynt yedn bavust,
Sokhrim ken ikh a sakh raykhe layt
Vos men geyt nor arum un men shmuest:
Eyner hot skhoyre un der tsveyter hot geld
Vi lang ken dos existirn
Aniderleygen ken dos dem grestn held
Un dan muz men bankrotirn

Bankrotn, bankrotn
Iz haynt oyf der gantse velt
Di tsayt iz zeyer shlekht,
Es hot zikh oysgelozt
Bay dem oylem dos geld
Vos kenen mir tuen,
Un vu zoln mir geyn
Kenen ken nor tuen ver s'hot
in himl ken men nisht flien
men darf aleyn farshteyn
Oy, oy, az men mus vern bankrotn.

Es hot zikh eyner gemakht a gesheft,
es iz im gegangen zeyer gut,
er bay zikh iz nisht geven geflept
un gegebn hot er nisht oyf kredit
un bald hot zikh ober farergert di tsayt
oyf vekslen hot er gemuzt gebn
di sokhrim iz yetst ts-tsu-zeyet? un tsu-shprayt
es iz im nist nikhe zayn lebn

Ikh ken a froy, vos zi iz geven zeyer sheyn
Nor gelebt hot zi mit an altn man
Ven der alter flegt kumen fun gesheft tsugeyn
Dan flegt zi inderheym nisht zayn
Fun gesheft flegt er brengen dos gantse geld
Un zi hot im gemakht tsu shand un shpot
Yetst iz im khoyshekh un finster zayn velt
un durkh ir muz er vern bankrotn

Labels: humor & satire, making a living (poverty), modernity, yiddish song, yiddish theater song

Here's the back story for one of the Yiddish songs we recorded for our "Cabaret Warsaw" cd, Varshe. But first, here's the video:


Or you can visit the whole cd at our record label: Cabaret Warsaw: Yiddish & Polish Hits of the 1920s - 1930s by Mappamundi

I found the disconnect between the first and second verses of this song so perplexing, I actually went on a hunt to find out more about Ola Lilith and the show, Dos Meydl fun Varshe, in which this song was the shlager (big hit).

Turns out the first verse was sung at the very beginning of the first act (Rumshinsky wrote in his memoirs that he chose to do this because Lilith was a bright star of Warsaw kleynkunst theater, newly arrived in America, and starring in her first American show, this second avenue operetta, and he wanted people to see her at her best right away. The second verse is sung much later in the show, when she has been thrown out of her bourgeois assimilated home in and is walking the streets of Warsaw at night, watching hookers at work.

I wrote a blog post about her: Digital Yiddish Theater article on Ola Lilith.

Reading the memoir of Mordechai Yardeini, I came across an article about Ola Lilith. If you want to get up to speed, go read what I wrote about her at Wikipedia: Ola Lilith, the girl from Warsaw. Her story fascinates me: born in an assimilated (Polish-speaking) middle-class family in Warsaw, she was performing in the Polish language cabaret Qui Pro Quo when she met Władysław Godik, who began his career in the Ukraine and performed in several countries before arriving at Qui Pro Quo. He persuaded Lilith to perfect her Yiddish and begin a Yiddish-language version of a cabaret, eventually called kleynkunst and/or revi-teatr, and they were among the founders of Azazel.

They later toured as a duo across Europe and then were brought to America by Rumshinsky, who wrote a vehicle for Lilith's debut as a star on this side of the Atlantic, "The Girl from Warsaw," about the fate of a well-to-do Jewish family trembling on the "edge of the holy church" (as it said in the script before it was heavily scratched out). The show begins around a Christmas tree! This Jewish family is having a Christmas eve celebration and has invited two non-Jews, a nobleman and a "Captain" (who, it turns out, was a convert away from Judaism many years before). The father and mother want their daughters to marry goyim.

Ola, a renegade, has chosen instead to fall in love with a "zhidovke komediant" (Godik) - her parents disapprove not only because he's a comedian / nightclub performer, but also because he's a Jew! They drive their daughter (Lola, played by Ola) out of the house.

More after the jump (including translation)

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Labels: battle between the sexes, modernity, nostalgia, songs for sale, warsaw, yiddish song