Shalom Secunda
Encyclopedia
Sholom Secunda was a Jewish composer
.
which later would become Ukraine
, in the city of Alexandria, which had a population of over 10,000. In 1897 his father moved the family to Nikolaev, where he opened an iron bed factory.
At age 12 Shloyme played Abraham/Avrom in Abraham Goldfaden
's Akeydes Yitskhok (The Sacrifice of Isaac) and Markus in The Kishef-Makherin (The Sorceress).
Later, like numerous other Jews of the Russian Empire
(see History of the Jews in Russia), with his family he emigrated to United States
in 1907 after series of pogrom
s that rocked the region in 1905. In 1908 the family emigrated to New York where he became a noted child khazn. When his voice changed he studied music and taught piano, then working in comedy theater in the chorus until his song "Amerike" was accepted by Jennie Goldstein
, who sang it with great success in Kornblum's Undzere kinder (Our Children) In 1913 he worked at the Odeon Theater as chorist and composer; 1914 saw the premier of "Yoysher, music by Sholom Secunda and Solmon Shmulevitsh." He began working in "Lyric theater" as choir director, then as director and orchestrator of the old "historic" operetta repertoire; he studied orchestration for a year under Ernest Bloch.
In 1919-1920 he earned his first solo composer's credits with S. H. Kon's The Rabbi's Daughter and Free Slaves. He worked in Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
with director Boris Thomashevsky; in 1921-22 he was director and composer at Clara Young's Liberty Theater. He composed for Di Yidishe Shikse by Anshl Shor (1927) A nakht fun libe (A Night of Love) by Israel Rosenberg
. An exhaustive list of his many works can be found in the Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater.
He wrote the melody for the popular song Bay mir bistu sheyn "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
" in 1932. Together with Aaron Zeitlin
he wrote the famous Yiddish song "Dos kelbl (The Calf)" (also known as "Donna Donna
") which was covered by many musicians, including Donovan
and Joan Baez
.
Along with Abraham Ellstein
, Joseph Rumshinsky
, and Alexander Olshanetsky
, he was one of the "big four" composers of his era in New York City
's Second Avenue
Yiddish theatre
scene.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
He was born in 1894 as Shloyme Sekunda in Kherson Gubernia, part of the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
which later would become Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, in the city of Alexandria, which had a population of over 10,000. In 1897 his father moved the family to Nikolaev, where he opened an iron bed factory.
At age 12 Shloyme played Abraham/Avrom in Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden ; was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays.Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.In 1876 he founded in...
's Akeydes Yitskhok (The Sacrifice of Isaac) and Markus in The Kishef-Makherin (The Sorceress).
Later, like numerous other Jews of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(see History of the Jews in Russia), with his family he emigrated to United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1907 after series of pogrom
Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire
The term pogrom as a reference to large-scale, targeted, and repeated antisemitic rioting saw its first use in the 19th century.The first pogrom is often considered to be the 1821 Odessa pogroms after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch Gregory V in Constantinople, in which 14 Jews were killed...
s that rocked the region in 1905. In 1908 the family emigrated to New York where he became a noted child khazn. When his voice changed he studied music and taught piano, then working in comedy theater in the chorus until his song "Amerike" was accepted by Jennie Goldstein
Jennie Goldstein
Jennie Goldstien , Yiddish theater actress and singer.-Early Life:Goldstein was born in New York; her father was a butcher. When she was 6, actress Rosa Margulies noticed her pretty voice and drew her into child roles at the Windsor Theater, including Hanele di neytorin with Bertha Kalish...
, who sang it with great success in Kornblum's Undzere kinder (Our Children) In 1913 he worked at the Odeon Theater as chorist and composer; 1914 saw the premier of "Yoysher, music by Sholom Secunda and Solmon Shmulevitsh." He began working in "Lyric theater" as choir director, then as director and orchestrator of the old "historic" operetta repertoire; he studied orchestration for a year under Ernest Bloch.
In 1919-1920 he earned his first solo composer's credits with S. H. Kon's The Rabbi's Daughter and Free Slaves. He worked in Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Philadelphia)
The Metropolitan Opera House is a historic opera house located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 858 North Broad Street. Built over the course of just a few months in 1908, it was the ninth opera house built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. It was initially the home of Hammerstein's Philadelphia...
with director Boris Thomashevsky; in 1921-22 he was director and composer at Clara Young's Liberty Theater. He composed for Di Yidishe Shikse by Anshl Shor (1927) A nakht fun libe (A Night of Love) by Israel Rosenberg
Israel Rosenberg
Israel Rosenberg founded the first Yiddish theater troupe in Imperial Russia....
. An exhaustive list of his many works can be found in the Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater.
He wrote the melody for the popular song Bay mir bistu sheyn "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
"Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs and Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish musical, I Would If I Could , that closed after one season...
" in 1932. Together with Aaron Zeitlin
Aaron Zeitlin
Aaron Zeitlin , the son of the famous Jewish writer Hillel Zeitlin and Esther Kunin, authored several books on Yiddish literature, Poetry and Parapsychology.-Biography:...
he wrote the famous Yiddish song "Dos kelbl (The Calf)" (also known as "Donna Donna
Donna Donna
Donna Donna is a Yiddish theater song about a calf being led to slaughter. The song's title is a variant on Adonai, a Jewish name for God.-History:...
") which was covered by many musicians, including Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
and Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
.
Along with Abraham Ellstein
Abraham Ellstein
Abraham "Abe" Ellstein was an American composer for Yiddish entertainments. Along with Shalom Secunda, Joseph Rumshinsky, and Alexander Olshanetsky, Ellstein was one of the "big four" composers of his era in New York City's Second Avenue Yiddish theatre scene...
, Joseph Rumshinsky
Joseph Rumshinsky
Joseph Rumshinsky , Jewish composer born near Vilna in Lithuania . Rumshinsky - with Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky, and Abraham Ellstein - is considered one of the "big four" of American Yiddish theater....
, and Alexander Olshanetsky
Alexander Olshanetsky
Alexander Olshanetsky was a Jewish-American composer, conductor, and violinist of Russian Jewish descent. He was a major figure within the Yiddish theatre scene in New York City from the mid 1920s until his death in 1946.-Life and career:...
, he was one of the "big four" composers of his era in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Second Avenue
Second Avenue (Manhattan)
Second Avenue is an avenue on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan extending from Houston Street at its south end to the Harlem River Drive at 128th Street at its north end. A one-way street, vehicular traffic runs only downtown. A bicycle lane in the left hand portion from 55th...
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
scene.
Filmography
- 1930 : Sailor's Sweetheart
- 1931 : A Cantor on Trial
- 1939 : Kol NidreKol NidreKol Nidre is an Aramaic declaration recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement...
- 1939 : TevyaTevye (film)Tevye is an American film adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's story of the same name, also known as Tevya, Tevye der Milchiker, or Tevye the Milkman.-Production background:...
- 1940 : The Jewish Melody
- 1940 : Her Second Mother
- 1940 : Motel the Operator
- 1940 : Eli, Eli
- 1950 : God, Man and Devil
- 1950 : Catskill Honeymoon
External links
- http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/secunda.htmlGuide to the Sholom Secunda Papers in the Fales LibraryFales LibraryNew York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
of NYU] - Opera Glass
- Shlimazl (Shlyoma Sekunda, history of the famous song) Let be blessed his memory.