Passover Song: "Burikes Oyf Peysakh". ("Beets for Passover"). Yiddish Song. Hidden Gem. (subtitles).

Yiddish songs and Jewish music include, of course, Passover songs. This joyous Passover music is presented here in a new recording, sung by Marc Berman . It may not exactly be a traditional Passover seder song, but it has the same rousing spirit as much seder music. The music and words are by Solomon Golub.

Golub’s songs were recorded (during his lifetime and after) by such leading singers as Emma Shaver, Mascha Benya, Sidor Belarsky, and even the renowned cantor Yossele Rosenblatt. One could also add the renowned American operatic tenor Jan Peerce to the list.

Curiously, "Burikes" apparently has not been widely recorded. More curiously, the few available recordings have been recorded by male singers, even though it is clear that the first line of the song is sung by a woman to her husband. Perhaps the interpretation is that the husband is recounting how his wife told him to obtain beets for Passover.

*This YouTube channel is dedicated to preserving rare Jewish music, especially Yiddish music, by recording it. It is so important that seldom-heard Jewish songs from the past be preserved for future generations. Recording these songs is very expensive. Without your help, much of this great music may be lost forever. Please consider donating a small amount (or, even better, becoming a monthly supporter) at www.buymeacoffee.com/cantorclassics or www.patreon.com/CantorClassics . Thanks so much!*

*A special thank you to Mr. Claude Daubies for his continued support.*

Among the immigrant composers of Yiddish art songs that had wide popularity during the first half of the 20th century, Solomon Golub was one of the most beloved. Golub performed his own songs in formal classical concert format, with piano. Not infrequently, the audience would sing along.

As was common then, Golub sometimes wrote an additional, optional violin part for his piano-vocal scores. As no such part could be located for "Beets for Passover," the singer in this video arranged one, based on elements of the piano part.

Golub was born near Riga, Latvia in 1887. His father was a local ba’al t’filla (lay prayer leader). His mother was also a singer. Golub’s mother was well acquainted with German lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, and other classical composers. She evidently passed this musical knowledge on to her son. As a boy, Golub sang in the choir of the Great Synagogue in Riga. That experience was also a large part of his musical training.

Golub immigrated to the United States in 1906. He continued his musical studies. By about 1915 he began to compose. He interacted with in the United Hebrew Choral Societies of America and Canada—a short-lived North American federation of Yiddish choral groups. The Society was founded in 1921 at a conference convened expressly for that purpose, initiated by the Paterson Singing Society. The Society was founded in 1913, largely by Jewish silk weavers who had immigrated from Łódź, in Russian-ruled Poland. (Paterson, New Jersey was known as the "Silk City" at the time. Like Lodz, and Lyons in France, Paterson was famous for its silk industry.)

Golub was disappointed by the coarseness of much of the Yiddish music of his day, He tried to create an alternative Yiddish song repertoire on a higher literary and musical level. He aimed for taste and dignity, yet with an emotional appeal that would resonate with Yiddish-speaking audiences.

At first, Golub wrote his own poems for his songs, as is the case for "Burikes," published in 1921. And he continued to do so even after he was able to set the verse of prominent poets.

Among the poets whose texts Golub composed for were the noted Avraham Reisen (1876–1953), Morris Rosenfeld (1862–1923), Mani Leib(1883–1953), H. Leivick (1888 – 1962) and Moshe Leib Halpern (1886–1932). “Many ... poems [of these poets] would have remained unknown or become forgotten, if Solomon Golub had not written music for them.” So wrote Henry Lefkowitch, the Jewish music publisher (and songwriter), in his introduction to a 1936 collection of Golub’s songs.

Golub’s songs were popular from the 1920s through the 1940s. He attained particular popularity in Zionist circles -- even among Hebrew speakers.

Golub set his songs simply, without complicated harmony or counterpoint in the accompaniment. His music is distinctively Jewish -- even apart from the Yiddish texts. Many of his songs are infused with melodic and modal elements (and even quotations) of eastern European cantorial chant.

Harmonically and melodically, his songs reflect mid-19th-century modes of expression. There is no hint of 20th-century (or even late-19th-century) harmonic or rhythmic innovation. Yet, in that very simplicity, lies the songs' charm. Golub died in 1952.*


*The above biography of Golub was adapted from an article by Neil Levin found at the Milken Jewish Music Archive, https://www.milkenarchive.org/artists/view/solomon-golub .