Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.168 November 7, 1994 1) Bunky (Chane Honig) 2) Prokovieff: Overture on Yiddish Themes (Dan Leeson) 3) Vi kumt di kats ibern vaser? (Peter Kluehs) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 5 Nov 1994 16:52:50 -0500 (EST) From: ahonig@mailbox.syr.edu Subject: Bunky I wanted to respond to Sorach Benner's note about being called Bunshie.... My mother was born in Yashenovke, noRth of Bialostok now in Poland... She still has the round gleaming bass pot in which she was sent to dem brunem ( the well) to fetch water daily as a young girl. She has always called this round large pot with a narrow mouth a "bunkie". Could the affectionate term for a kleine myedle with a round tummy have come from an association with the word " bunkie? or is this word a Polish or Russian word .. Ich vays nit.. ober ich bin zeyer tsufriden az meine mama ( zie vet hobn 94 yorn in December im letzten monat hot mire gegbn dos bunkie far a matonah!.. zayt gezunt allemen. OIkhet ich vell zogn as a molly picon show is geven bi undz in Syracuse New York ...(Nes Hagoal halb in yiddish, halb oif english. a mechiyah! szi gekumen fun Chicago . the show waws entitled : Molly Picon's Return Engagement " by Sara Blacher cohen and this two person show goes through the life and songs and smiles and tsoras of Molly's life...Since the two person show travels, other Yiddish aficianados may want to bring this to their communities. Ours was partally sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program at Syracsuse University...and it was free to an overflow crowd on a Sunday afternoon. Chane (Alice) Honig 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:47:16 EST From: leeson@aspen.fhda.edu Subject: Prokovieff: Overture on Yiddish Themes I recently had occasion to play a work by Serge Prokovieff whose title I always believed to be "Overture on Hebrew Themes." I have been playing the work since the 1950s and invariably called it by that title, one which was also published on a number of record jackets whenever the work was recorded. It is a brief work for only 6 players and takes no longer than 10 minutes. The music has a Jewish characteristic though the main melodies were created specifically for this composition and are not folk songs. Oh yes, the English title on the printed copy said "Hebrew Themes." As a composition with such a dignified title, I played it straight as an arrow, just like Brahms. Now I am in possession of information that is causing me to rethink this matter, and it is in no way academic. In my most recent playing, the string quartet and piano were all Russian immigrants and we were playing from a Russian edition. They kept calling it "Overture on Yiddish Themes" and when I inquired about the title was advised that the Russian word referred to "Yiddish" and not "Hebrew." Further research has led me to believe that the two main melodies of the work were created specifically for Prokoffiev by the late Simeon Bellison who was the 1st clarinet player with the NY Philharmonic for years and years, and who also was interested in the settings of Yiddish songs for clarinet. There are several published and I played one called "Bube Meise" only recently. There wasn't a dry eye in the shul. Now, I am going to play the work again in early December and this time I want to be better prepared both in my playing and to make intelligent commentary. Was the use of the title "Hebrew Themes" considered more dignified and less ghettoish than "Yiddish Themes"? And if the music is supposed to sound less like Bloch's "Sacred Service" and more like "A Freiliche Nacht In Gan Eden" would it be appropriate to play the Prokovieff as a Klezmer player? I recognize that the members of this board are not necessarily specialists in Prokovieff, but what other place is better qualified to speak on a work called "Overture on Yiddish Themes" (presuming that my Russian colleagues were correct in their reading of the title, and I have no reason to believe otherwise)? This is a cross-discipline, cross-cultural problem and to whom else should I go for advice? Dan Leeson 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 06 Nov 1994 21:30:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: Vi kumt di kats ibern vaser? Tayerer shames un ale farinteresirte mendelniks, ikh shik aykh haynt a kleynem bayshpil fun a tekst in yidish gufe vos me volt kenen aynshraybn in a data baze far yidishe literatur. ikh hob dem tekst geshribn mit mayn 'hebrew edit wordprocessor' in hebreishe oysyes. dem rezultirndikn "file" in 8-bis hebrew ascii hob ikh "uuencoded". itst vet zikh shteln di frage, oyb es zenen faran mendelniks vos kenen leyenen dem tekst. awade ale hobn a program uudecode kedey tsu baytn dem "file" tsurik in 8-bis hebrew ascii, ober veln kenen andere "word- processors" oykh leyenen dem "file"? un es vet zayn zeyer vikhtik hobn a program vos transliterirt dem hebrew ascii tekst tsurik tsu lataynishe oysyes far ale mendelniks vos veln nisht mutshn zikh mit di hebreishe oysyes. ikh derwart ayer yedies mit a groysn interes. zayt mir ale gezunt Peter Kluehs section 1 of uuencode 5.25 of file dov-ber by R.E.M. begin 644 dov-ber M@(F/((`@@H",B9:)F8\@F8B2B(P@AX"(((*2C)*!B""`((F)@R".B8B/((6` MCI*/((.`A84*("`@()X@()X@("`@("`@("`@("`@()P@("`@("`@("">("`@ M("`@("`@(""<("`@(""<("`@"H&2F"`M((`@F86)BY*(+""%A8"1()2,DH*( M((:)BB"`A8F*()2`F)"2CI*/((Z)B`H@("`@("">("`@("`@("`@(""<("`@ M("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@GB`@("`@("`@("`@"H:)B8*2F(Z`BY*8B8DN(""4 MC)*"B"".DH\@A862@H\@@(F-((:`@H\Z("*#@(6%+8&2F""`B88@@"`*("`@ M("`@()X@("">GB`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@()P@("`@(""<("`@ M("`@("`@("">(`J.B8F1B)*8("T@@(F)D)*8(("%B90@@Y*8((6%DHR((2"` MAB"2F""4@)B8B8N(((`*()Z>("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@ M("`@GB`@("`@()X@("`@("">("`@("`@("`@(`J&B8F"DIB,+""9B(F)B""2 MD2P@@(6/(("&()*8()>%B8R2B""`((2)D(.,+"""B8F(()*1+B(@(`H@("`@ M("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@()X@("`@("`@("`@("">("`@("`@("`@("`@ (("`@("`@(`H@ ` end sum -r/size 38404/782 section (from "begin" to "end") sum -r/size 26706/548 entire input file ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.168 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu