Great Songs of the Yiddish Stage, Vol. 1: Abraham Ellstein (1907-1963) and Other Songwriters of His Circle The American Yiddish musical stage, one of the...
Great Songs of the Yiddish Stage, Vol. 1: Abraham Ellstein (1907-1963) and
Other Songwriters of His Circle
The American Yiddish musical stage, one of the most powerful expressions of
the immigrant experience, flourished as mass entertainment among large numbers
of eastern European Jewish newcomers to this country from the 1890s through
the 1940s. This Milken Archive disc, the first of three projected volumes, includes
16 examples of popular Yiddish theatrical song, derived primarily from the Yiddish
theater that was centered on lower Manhattan's Second Avenue, but also from
Yiddish vaudeville, film, and radio.
Many of the Yiddish theater songs come from full-length productions that alternated
romantic comedy with melodrama, vaudeville routines with social comment. Many
express the various romantic situations found in those plays: unrequited love,
marriages of convenience, and arrangements between unlikely couples. Others
were "songs of disillusionment" that lamented the difficulties of
the new immigrants in America; and many expressed nostalgia for the "old
country," a sentiment more idealized than real, as most Jews had been eager
to escape their poverty in Europe and were committed to their adopted new land.
The goal of the Milken Archive Yiddish theater project was to re-create the
authentic sound and style of this vibrant genre. The greatest challenge was
that complete or authoritative orchestrations for Yiddish theater songs have
not survived. Conductors of the time worked mostly from sketches, and actual
arrangements were usually done after the fact for live radio or makeshift recordings.
These arrangements almost always called for smaller ensembles than the actual
25-piece pit orchestras in the theaters. The Milken Archive commissioned several
leading orchestrators to produce new, historically informed arrangements expressly
for these multi-track recordings, based on meticulous research into ensemble
size, instrumentation, and the orchestral styles of the original productions.
The musical style of these songs is a unique amalgam of idioms and influences
both secular and religious: Viennese operetta (one of the important sources
of the Yiddish theater); Eastern European Jewish, Gypsy, and other folk motifs;
and cantorial traditions and liturgical modes. Composers and arrangers also
incorporated popular dance rhythms and melodic styles of the day, reflecting
their adopted culture. Many leading personalities of the Yiddish stage were
considered virtual folk heroes, and some achieved fame in the broader world
of American popular culture as well. Eventually, "swing" versions
of some Yiddish show tunes became the rage in this country, and American Yiddish
theater was successfully exported to Europe and South America.
Ten of the sixteen songs on this disc are by Abraham Ellstein (1907-1963),
an American-born composer and arranger who, although best known for his Yiddish
theater songs, was Juilliard-trained and also wrote oratorios, synagogue music,
and two operas. Several of the concert and opera singers, and musical theater
artists heard performing these works can trace their roots to important figures
in the history of Yiddish theater. They were coached in authentic Yiddish theater
style by Zalman Mlotek. Elli Jaffe conducts the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and
the Barcelona Symphony / National Orchestra of Catalonia, with sopranos Amy
Goldstein and Nell Snaidas; mezzo-sopranos Joanne Borts and Elizabeth Shammash;
tenors Bruce Adler, Robert Bloch, Benzion Miller, and Simon Spiro; and baritone
Robert Abelson.
(Excerpted and adapted from the essay by Neil W. Levin in the CD liner notes
booklet.)