Attractive Hebrews: The Lambert Yiddish Cylinders, 1901-1905
Various Artists

Attractive Hebrews: The Lambert Yiddish Cylinders, 1901-1905
July 18, 2016 hennessey
Various Artists: Attractive Hebrews: The Lambert Yiddish Cylinders, 1901-1905

Recordings of arias from long-forgotten Yiddish operas, street-corner ballads, cantorial hymns, and odd traditional folk songs—these lost prizes of Jewish Old World history landed sideways into a 1903 Lambert Company catalog under the description, "Attractive Hebrew Selections." The records are like an ethnographer’s dream, but listen closely and you will hear something more: the difficult assimilation experience of Jewish émigrés arriving on America’s shores at the turn of the last century. While the dandy "Up to Date Boychik" caricatured in 1904 sheet music (portrayed on the front cover) offered one path of "Americanization," an emerging Yiddish theater scene in New York, built on recognizable Eastern European traditions, offered another. Here, the great works of Abraham Goldfaden and "Professor" Moshe Hurwitz were performed to eager audiences; here, the voices of Solomon Smulewitz, Kalman Juvelier, William Nemrell, and "King of Comic Singers" Dave Franklin rang out supreme. These are the earliest known Yiddish recordings in the world, and this anthology will be the first time since their issue over a century ago that the cylinders will be heard by those able to understand their pithy and colorful language. 56-page booklet included, with notes and Yiddish-to-English translations by Henry Sapoznik. Produced in cooperation with the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture and the Mills Music Library of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. List price: $17.99

OVERVIEW

  • Catalogue number: ARCH 8001
  • UPC: 778632906747
  • Original release date: August 26, 2016
  • Running length: 48:51 / 20 tracks
  • Notes & packaging: Digipak with a 56-page booklet
  • Tracks recorded: 1901-1905
  • All selections except #19 in Yiddish
  • In Archeophone’s Ethnic & Foreign Language series
Tracks and Sound SamplesHonors & AwardsExplore Further
 Sample all tracks 
Tracklist
1. Odom Yesoyde Meofor William Nemrell ca. 1901-1903
2. El Mole Rakhamim Sam Rubin ca. 1901-1903
3. Der Kaddish William Nemrell ca. 1901-1903
4. Lustige Khsidim Dave Franklin ca. 1901-1903
5. A Yiddishe Khupe Sam Rubin ca. 1901-1903
6. Hagode Shel Peysakh Dave Franklin ca. 1901-1903
7. Shprintze’s Likht Bentshn Sam Rubin ca. 1901-1903
8. Shiker Lid Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
9. Dos Biselle Mashke Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
10. Rozhinkes mit Mandlen William Nemrell ca. 1901-1903
11. Vayzuso Dave Franklin ca. 1901-1903
12. Min Hameytzar William Nemrell ca. 1901-1903
13. Yetzias Mitzrayim Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
14. Ben Hador Kalman Juvelier ca. 1901-1903
15. Das Yidl Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
16. Kabed es Ovikho Kalman Juvelier ca. 1901-1903
17. Vi Mayn Tate Hot Gemakht Dave Franklin ca. 1901-1903
18. Tayne Nit Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
19. The Honeysuckle and the Bee Joseph Natus ca. 1901-1903
20. Tsu Gefellen Mener Solomon Smulewitz ca. 1901-1903
ARSC Awards for Excellence
  • Nominee, Best Historical Research in Record Labels, 2017
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