Leyb Rozental
Songwriter & playwright in the Vilna Ghetto
1916-1944
Yankele Hershkowitz (Herszkowicz)
Folk singer & entertainer in the Lodz ghetto
Yankele Hershkowitz, a tailor by trade, was a popular street performer in the
1910-1972
Hirsch Glik
Poet and partisan in the Vilna ghetto, author of famous hymn "Zog nit keynmol az du geyst dem letstn veg" (Never say that you are walking the final road).
Hirsch Glik was born in 1920 to a working class family in Vilna. Glik began writing poetry at the age of 13, and was involved throughout his adolescent years in literary circles such as Yung Vilne (Young Vilna) and its offshoot, Yungvald (Young Forest).
1920-1944
Gideon Klein
Composer & piano virtuoso, active in the musical life of the Theresienstadt ghetto.
1919-1945
David Beyglman
Conductor & theater director in the Lodz ghetto
David Beyglman, conductor, was born in 1887 in Ostrowiec (Kielce province of Poland). Beyglman began his musical education at a young age, studying several instruments, chiefly the clarinet and the violin. In 1912, he became the director of the Yitskhok Zanberg Yiddish Theater Company. In addition, he was affiliated with the Azazel and Ararat Yiddish Theaters centered in Lodz.
1887-1944
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.