Beautiful example of Kwartin's nusach that he probably actually used in his Rosh Hashanah davening in shul. Thanks for posting this. (BTW, while Kwartin is often referred to as a high baritone, he actually considered himself a heldentenor. His voice did darken with age, though, as evidenced by his later recordings. But if you listen to his very earliest recordings, the voice is much more "tenory.")
He lived in South Africa with a lucrative position wasn’t interested in concertising. He was asked by Chazzan Moshe Shulhoff why he didn’t give concerts as his brothers did. He answered, “That’s why they are where they are and I am where I am. “
My father, Cantor Pinkas Hoffert, sang this beautiful composition almost note for note. It is as difficult to sing as it is beautiful. Who composed it?
Uno que no sabe Hebreo solo tiene lo que dice el recorte de periodico: When only the music is left; cuando solo queda la musica. La musica puede decir muchas cosas, sin embargo no escuche la pasion que supongo hay en Rosh Hashana, Yom Kipur y sobre todo en Kol Nidrei. Escuche un canto sereno como diciendo: este es un Servicio de Dios.
This is an outstanding recording. The nusach is so pure! This is an incredible representation of the "chazonishe nusach" in very fine form. Were these recordings made in studio as nusach recordings specifically? And if so how many were made?
Alongside the late David Koussevitxky, Moshe Stern was the greatest Synagogue Cantor the world has ever seen. And we will never see the likes of him again. These recordings are treasured masterpieces of what the Golden Age of Cantorial music was. We can only listen to them to go back in time.
I was fortunate to be in the choir of the Egerton Rd shul during the early fifties where this great chazan enthralled the packed congregation every Shabbos and Yom Tov. To the loss of London, he left in 1955 for New York.
How beautiful!! My father Z"L was an amazing chazzan for many years. He loved to sing this piece every year and for the rest of his life after retiring. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Here is a translation from the Yiddish into English. “Geyt a goy” A goy [male Christian] goes into a tavern, into a tavern, into a tavern. There he drinks a good glass of wine, a good glass of wine, a good glass of wine. Oy, a goy is drunk, a goy is drunk, drunk he is, drink he must, because he is a goy. A Jew goes into the house of learning [i.e. the synagogue], into the house of learning, into the house of learning. There he grabs [makes] a little afternoon prayer, a little prayer, a little blessing, and also a chapter of the Mishnah [the core text of the Talmud]. Oy, a Jew is sober, a Jew is sober, sober he is, pray he must, because he is a Jew. The goy leaves [goes out of] the tavern, out of the tavern, out of the tavern. He smashes out the windows of us Jews, the windows out, the windows out. Oy, a goy is drunk, a goy is drunk, drunk he is, smash he must, because he is a goy. The Jew goes out of the house of learning, Out of the house of learning, out of the house of learning. There he kisses [“out”*] a couple of mezzuzahs, A couple of mezzuzahs, a couple of mezzuzahs. Oy, a Jew is sober, a Jew is sober, Sober he is, kiss he must, Because he is a Jew. *Maybe in the sense of “on his way out”, but also just to emphasize the contrast to the goy’s smashing the windows “out”.
@pooplax8081 I tried to comment 12 days ago with several links and a translation, but the page won't let me comment. Not sure why. Maybe it was too long. Here's a shorter comment, and without links. Try searching with "Geyt a goy ..", the first line of the song. The translations on most sites are not very literal. (If this message gets through, I'll send you a better translation.)
Recorded 10/27/1925 in Victor's Camden NJ facility, a repurposed decomissioned church. (DAHR catalog at UCSB on web). Orchestra led by (and probably arranged by) cellist Rosario Bourdon, an accomplished Canadian musician employed by Victor. This highly macaronic folk-song interweaves Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian as (roughly) the three _personas_ representing the detached narrator, Jacob, and God: "God said to Jacob", "He spoke to me and said" "Fear not my servant Jacob" ..."I fear nobody, believe in nobody, but _Boga Odnago_ (One God)". The Idelsohn volume cited below (where this is #559) can be found on the web and is utterly fascinating if you enjoy this type of thing. (Kisselgof was an extremely interesting dude who scrounged pre-Holocaust Russia/Ukraine for exactly this type of artifact. He is not likely the composer.)
