Page 20-THE NEWS-August, 1988
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Favorite Yiddish Songs/Mir
Trogn a Gezang. Text and
sheet music compiled by
Eleanor Gordon Mlotek. In
troduction by Theodore Bikel.
Adama Books, 306 West 38th
Street, New York, NY 10018.
1987. 237pages. $19.95, book
and audio cassette tape.
Reviewed by Diane Cole
Nothing can conjure the lost
world of European “Yiddish-
keit” as poignantly as the
distinctive minor-key strains
of the Yiddish folk song. In
capturing the very sound of
another time and place, these
songs carry us in imagination
to an era that, as time goes by,
fewer and fewer are able to
remember.
Favorite Yiddish Songs,
originaUy published in 1972
(by Workmen’s Circle) and re
cently reissued in a handsome
illustrated volume, is a wel
come guide to this evocative
musical past. It provides the
music, Yiddish lyrics and
English translation for over
one hundred songs, along with
brief historical notes. An ac
companying cassette tape also
includes a delightful selection
of favorites.
Playing these songs, the
listener is struck by the
music’s range and diversity.
The songs EU’e a melsmge of
many cultures, with hints of
Eastern European folk tunes,
Chassidic chants, stage dit
ties, sentimental popular bal
lads of another era, even
echoes of Tin Pan Alley jazz.
Perhaps that’s no surprise,
though, when one considers
that the songs collected here
include not only “traditional”
songs with no known author,
but a variety of popular hits
from Russia, Europe and the
Lower East Side.
These songs mirror a culture
that was equally rich and
eclectic, and Eleanor Gordon
Mlotek's introductory notes
trace the themes that made up
the very fabric of life: Lyrics
reveal the conflicts between
the “old” world, where the
study of Torah is central and
marriages eire arremged, and
the new world across the
ocean, where secular values
reign and the Charleston is all
the rage. There are songs for
all the moods and phases of
life-haunting lullabies, anec
dotal tales of Yeshivah stu
dents, dreamy fantasies of
young girls anxious to be
brides, celebratory wedding
chants, drinking tunes, poetic
wonderings about the mean
ing of life, sentimental ballads
of love gone awry. Through
out, the lyrics are filled with a
kind of sly wit and humor one
associates with Sholom Alei-
chem.
The accompanying tape con
Songs
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MtTflOMCTMW tv TftioMIIS L
tains lovely renditions of some
of the most popular of these
songs, including “Motele,”
“Tum-Balalayke,” and
“Raisins and Almonds.” Un
fortunately, the tape carries
no identifying information,
not even the names of the
songs recorded, so you will
recognize these favorites only
if you are familiar with them
already. Those who don’t
know Yiddish — and whose
pleasure would be enhanced
the most by being able to
follow along — wifi have to
wait for future printings
which, Adama Books prom
ises, will include this informa
tion. This regrettable lapse is
also a disservice to the many
admirable performers who for
the moment remain anony
mous.
Nonetheless, this is an ex
cellent introduction to the art
of the Yiddish song and should
whet the appetite for more. In
fact, I would suggest as a se
quel a reissue of the late Mar
tha Schlamme’s wonderful re
cordings of Yiddish songs, out
of print for too many years
now. I hope someone is listen
ing.
Diane Cole is a writer whose
reviews have appeared in The
New York Times Book Re
view, The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, and The
Washington Post.
Jewish Books
J uj B in Review
is a service ot the IWB tewish Book Council,
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