Jiddische Lieder is a remarkable, if somewhat flawed recording of old Yiddish folk standards and lesser known gems. It is remarkable because the Yiddish ballads are performed with a deft and beautiful touch. At their best, the arrangements are simple and understated. Dem Milners Trern (“The Miller’s Tears”) alone makes the album worthwhile. Listen to the beautiful mandolin playing on this cut (Listen Here) in which a few notes waft across the interval between the vocal stanzas: gorgeous! On Dortn, Dortn and all the ballads, the tenor vocals convey sweet and ravishing beauty. The song choices are unusual and almost always interesting.
Where else will you hear a German folk ensemble perform songs extolling Jewish resistance (Shtil, Di Nacht Iz Oysgesternt) against Nazi tyranny? The irony of a German (non-Jew) singing the praises of the valiant Jewish female partisan for blowing up the “hated enemy’s convoy” is simply delicious to my Jewish ear (though I wonder whether the group members were aware of this).
That being said, there are a few caveats. This is a GERMAN group performing Yiddish songs. So it is disconcerting to hear Yiddish pronouned as if it were German (which it most definitely isn’t). There are many resemblances & similarities between the two languages, but a non-Yiddish speaking ensemble should take more time to learn correct pronunciation.
The uptempo songs on this recording have a little too much of the German oompa sound to them. Lots of simple, pounding beat and not much subtlety. But even a song like “Dire Gelt,” which gets the oompa treatment big time is such an interesting song that I could almost forgive the overpowering arrangement.
Please Note: This mp3 blog showcases my love for traditional music. I hope you come, listen, enjoy, and follow the links to buy the music. Such good deeds reward the artists I feature here and allow me to cover a small portion of the expense involved in maintaining this blog.
thanks for the presentation of this cd,
but why the polemic…..
what´s german “oompa”….
and i don´t think that there is any irony if a german praises jewish resistance in the 30´and 40´….this is nothing unusual.
describing this as “irony” might rather reflect some need of further discussion with the current german generations, who for example grew up with reading Anne Franks diary in school …..or a large proportion of young germans are conscientious objectors…..and overall i think the current german society is very critical towards any kind of non-diplomatic solutions of conflicts worldwide. excuseme, i am usually rather critical towards germany….but i am a bit tired of this typical german stereotypes which do not reflect the reality of current german society.
i am german and i certainly don´t want to deny responsibility of germans regarding the Holocaust. But this responsibility should be a source for activities to prevent any kind of human rights violation, disrespect, racism etc.
please….first we are all humans and not Americans, Namibians, Chinese etc and we just should try to abandon any kind of chauvinistic views of the world.
i saw zupfgeigenhansel as an adolescent many years ago….í don´t think that there was any kind of “oompa” . i rather appreciated their joyful and thoughtful music. why can we not just acknowledge their attempt to sing yiddish songs which reflects a lot of respect for jewish culture and history in europe.
Friendly greetings
Hans-Joerg
I didn’t intend this post to be a ‘polemic’ and I’m sorry if it comes across that way to you. I love this recording as I think I made this clear in my post. But I did have a few caveats & thought them worth expressing. The caveats do not diminish the recording’s value in my eyes in any way.
I think we both must realize we come at this fr. diff. perspectives. I’m delighted if German musicians praising Jewish partisans is not “unusual” to you. This shows that Germans (or at least those you speak of) have liberated themselves fr. the oppression of the Nazi thinking.
But fr. my perspective as a Jew (& if I presume that you are not & am wrong I apologize profusely), this IS most unusual. In this country, you do not hear much about Germans who cherish Judaism or Jewish traditions nor about those who praise Jews for resistance to Nazi tyranny. I’m not saying there aren’t such people. Just that we don’t hear much about them. I’m perfectly willing to be educated on this subject.
I think you know enough of my other writing here to understand that this is largely my own view as well. However, growing up as a Jew with a keen understanding of Jewish history, I see the suffering of my own people differently. We suffered as Jews and because we were Jews. Universalism does not explain sufficiently well the reasons for anti-Semitism. German Jews entirely embraced universalism to the tune of 1/3 of German Jews converting to Christianity between German statehood & 1933. Look where their universalism got them.
Pls. don’t misunderstand. I am not criticizing universalism. But I AM saying that universalism w/o an understanding of the particularity of human cultures & religions is an empty vessel.
As for the suffering of the Israeli & Palestinian peoples, I don’t think universal principles are what will appeal strongest to their respective hearts. You need arguments coming directly fr. ea. tradition (Jewish & Islamic) to motivate them to turn away fr. their murderous practices.
I guess “oompa” is the ear of the beholder/listener. Music is, of course, an entirely subjective experience. We both were been raised with diff. aural experiences & tastes. My post was only meant to express my own sense of how I heard the music. I’m perfectly willing to concede that someone more familiar with German musical traditions (and even those not familiar with them) might find the “oompa” sound I detected to be anything but…
I am sorry I have not had the opportunity to hear zupfgeigenhansel. I would like very much to do so if they’re still performing.
“So by all means come, listen, enjoy, then follow the links to buy the music.”
Which links?
Sorry if that wasn’t clear, DPA McManus. The album cover graphic has a link to Amazon where you should be able to buy this record. Let me know if you have any further problem.