Yiddish Theatre Forum [YTF]

Joel Berkowitz, Editor <yankl@albany.edu>

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Contents of Volume 5.002

1) Rags-to-riches motif in Yiddish drama (David Brenner)

2) Three new albums with Yiddish concert songs (Jacques Verheijen)

1)______________________________________________________

Date: 5 March 2006

From: David Brenner

Subject: Rags-to-riches motif in Yiddish drama

I'm trying to establish whether there was a "critical mass" of Yiddish plays that had a rags to riches story about an artist, specifically an actor—and NOT so much a "Jazz Singer," though the Jolson
biography and Raphaelson story of 1922-ish do move in such a trajectory.

2)______________________________________________________

Date: 1 March 2006

From: Jacques Verheijen
Subject: Three new albums with Yiddish concert songs

Given the great popularity nowadays of Yiddish folk song, it is rather strange that good piano arrangements, suitable for concert performance, hardly exist. A recent publication by Jacques Verheijen Muziekproducties Holland tries to fill that gap with three new albums with Yiddish songs for voice and piano.

Jacques Verheijen, a Dutch composer/arranger/pianist, who specialized the last ten years with singer Mariejan van Oort in Yiddish songs, published these new albums in January 2006 under the same titles as they launched their concert programs and their three CDs in the past:

- Brikele (Little bridge) - Yiddish songbooks Volume 1 for voice and piano

- Benkshaft (Longing) - Yiddish songbooks Volume 2 for voice and piano

- Mayn fayfele (My little flute) - Yiddish songbooks Volume 3 for voice and piano

The three volumes contain at least 18 songs each in score for voice and piano. For each album there is also a separate voice-parts set for the singer. Jacques Verheijen made arrangements for existing Yiddish songs, but he also wrote compositions on Yiddish poetry. There is a prominent place in these albums for Mordekhay Gebirtig: in fact, Volume 3 has been completely devoted to his songs and poems, including new material from the collection of poems which was discovered in the nineties in Israel (and published in Yiddish under the same title, “Mayn fayfele”).

People who love singing Yiddish songs, but also music libraries, may be particularly interested in the fact that these albums can be bought together with the CDs. For more information, see www.demaatschap.net under Sheet music.

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End of Yiddish Theatre Forum 05.002

Yiddish Theatre Forum

Joel Berkowitz, Editor

Leonard Prager, Senior Adviser

Editorial Board

Zachary Baker Barbara Henry

Miroslawa Bulat David Mazower

Avrom Greenbaum Nina Warnke

Seth Wolitz

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