My Yiddishe Mama by Yosef Rosenblatt

My Yiddishe Mama.
http://www.Myzeidi.com
Yosef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882-1933) is generally considered to be the uncrowned king of cantorial music. People often refer to him just as "Yossele," a Yiddish diminutive of Josef.
Yossele was born in 1882 in the Ukrainian shtetl [small village] Belaya Tserkov--the first boy in the family after nine girls.His father, a Ruzhiner Hasid who frequented the court of the Sadagora Rebbe, was himself a hazzan. Recognizing his young son's extraordinary talent, Yossele's father began to tour with his son to help supplement the family income. The father would daven [pray] as the hazzan, but it was the child prodigy, Yossele, whom the crowds came to hear.There is a famous joke about a Cantor who calls himself the Third Yossele Rosenblatt... When he's asked who the Second Yossele Roseblatt might be, in great offense he retorts, "There could be no Second Yossele Rosenblatt!"
Rosenblatt's greatest hit was his recording of "Shir Hama'alot," Psalm 126, to a tune composed by Minkowsky. This psalm is said on festive occasions, just before the "Grace after Meals." This cheerful melody became so popular, that soon it was considered to be the traditional tune for this psalm. When the State of Israel was looking for a suitable National Anthem, Rosenblatt's "Shir Hama'alot" was proposed as a serious candidate.

....."Now a celebrity, Rosenblatt was in demand everywhere. Appearing just a few weeks later on the steps of The New York Public Library for the War Savings Stamp Campaign, he sang "The Star Spangled Banner," followed by "Keili, Keili," at the conclusion of which Enrico Caruso, the great star of the opera, stepped forward and kissed him."

In his foreword to this book, Rosenblatt wrote about his own recitatives:
"In producing them I was moved by the double impulse of serving the needs of the Jewish Cantor and of demonstrating to the musical world at large that genuine Jewish Chazanuth can still satisfy completely even the refined taste of today. ...I shall feel amply rewarded for my efforts when I shall see this work widely disseminated."
David Chevan produced a very interesting CD called " Days of Awe : Meditations for Selichot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur." It is a collection of instrumental interpretations of Rosenblatt's compositions for the High Holidays. As such it is one of the finest "Jewish-Jazz" recordings, and a great Jazz instrumental anyway.
"I came to Rosenblatt years ago when I became interested in Hazzanut, which is the art of Jewish cantorial singing. Rosenblatt had an incredible voice and really understood this art form. His krechts, or sobbing sounds, are profoundly emotional and his phrasing is equally moving. It occurred to me that I needed to learn more about him, so I began transcribing his recordings and learning more about the nuances of his singing style, especially his phrasing," explains bassist Chevan, who teaches at Southern Connecticut State University.
"The cantorial art of Hazzanut is a highly improvisatory process that reminds me of jazz improvisation. I hear and have found much more spontaneity in the singing of cantors than in most Klezmer music (which, incidentally is often called -- and I believe incorrectly so -- Jewish jazz)," he says, noting that he chose to transcribe Rosenblatt's renditions of High Holy Day prayers for several reasons.
"First, because of his incredible sense of melody. These pieces are infused with wonderful and emotionally powerful melodies. Second, because he was one of the greatest recorded masters of Hazzanut. His singing and improvisations are filled with nuances that are rivaled by only a few other cantors," notes Chevan. "Thirdly, his compositions are compelling. Each of the pieces I transcribed was like a miniature oratorio. In each of the pieces there were at least two or more complete music sections that might contain moments of operatic recitative, snippets of folk melodies, and large sections of improvised Hazzanut. When I transcribed and then arranged these for my band to perform the music came alive in fresh new ways that got me excited. I could hear and feel the spirit of the High Holy Days, the Days of Awe, in a new and meaningful way."
"As I was transcribing the various pieces I began to find certain places and patterns in Rosenblatt's choices as to when he would be in tempered pitch and when he used quarter-tones. I don't even know if he was aware that he was making quarter-tones as much as creating certain emphases that were attached as much to the text as anything else. I get the sense that he was very aware that the "out-of-pitch" notes created a certain drama that the congregation would have felt as supplication. In contrast there are sections, especially when he is singing more in the Yiddish song/freilakh style (strident and martial at times) that he is right on the money and everything is in more or less tempered pitch...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• My
• Yiddishe
• Mama
• Momme
• Myzeidi
• MyzeidiTV
• Myzeidimusic
• Mame
• Mamma
• Mome
• Yossele
• Josef
• Rosenblatt
• Yiddish
• אידיש
• יידיש
• Yiddishkeit
• Iddish
• Май
• Идише
• Мамэ
• Yidish
• Song
• Yidisch
• Zeidi

[nahedh]

I'm Palestinian and enjoy listening to this. And while being critical of the Israeli government, I'm not anti-Semitic and really don't see a point to it. Is there something wrong with me?

[mahvachcheidani]

splendid! to hell with antesmites all, of past and now.

[ImmaArnie]

@nahedh nothing is wrong with you, nothing is wrong with any palestinian. you are just lucky that you haven't been raised by hamas/hizbullah or u would have been the same anti-semitic war-monger they want you to be. that's how strong the brainwash works. please, as a true palestinians the first step towards improving the condition is to fight terrorism and put down the weapons, only then no families will suffer again

[DavidRuizBrasil]

Enjoy the music... leave both iyddish and muslims in peace for this moment... I used to listen to this song when I was a little kid, at home, in a long play 33 1/2 rotation. Those were the best days of my life.

[Inteligibilny1]

@metyuewb My Grandfouder saved a Men and his child , Iam very sorry thet you thing such bed about every Pols. God bless you

[metyuewb]

@Inteligibilny1 and I think you're a plain psychopath and I don't have time for your shit what fucking planet are you living on? By the way I already gave a place and a date for example, Jedwabne 42, look it up, and go somewhere else with your idiotic lies, Poland is FAMOUSLY WORLD-OVER ONE OF THE MOST ANTI-SEMITIC COUNTRY IN THE WORLD YOU EVEN HATE YOUR JEWS ONE THEY'VE BEEN EXTERMINATED so shut the fuck up twat

[Inteligibilny1]

@metyuewb Our massacres at Ukraina / Pamięci wydarzeń na Wołyniu.wmv

[Inteligibilny1]

@metyuewb I think you dont know history of Europe an you dont know nothing abaut war at eastern Europe . "Poland hes a long a bloody history of anty -semyty" tell my when? When our polity did a massacres of you . witch country was with nazi during a war and witch fight against him do you know?

[metyuewb]

@Inteligibilny1 Yes, poor murderers, they had no time to savor their sanity. The fuck are you talking about, you think every country occupied by the Germans had massacres like that? Poland has a long and bloody history of anti-semitism and you know it and everyone does, so why the hell deny it??

[Inteligibilny1]

@metyuewb Yes our people did it but not our country like German or France it is difference. our authority never said do it , During such horrible time people going med

[metyuewb]

@Inteligibilny1 That's just what I mean, you don't think of yourselves as aggressors against Jews? "Try" Jedwabne, 1942