Arnold Perlmutter
Encyclopedia
Arnold Perlmutter composer for Yiddish theatre
, born in Zlotshev, Galitsia, moved to Lemburg where he received both a religious and a secular education in Polish, Ukrainian, and German. Sang with then-famous hazzan
Borekh Shor's chorus until his voice changed, then became a klezmer, playing bass and then violin and directing and composing for the Harmonia orchestra, which in 1889 was taken into I. B. Gimpel's Yiddish theater in Lemburg; he wrote the music for the operetta Rabbi Akiva and his students. and Der Spanisher Tsigayner (The Spanish Gypsy).
In 1891 Abraham Goldfaden
came to Lemburg to stage his Meshiakh tsaytn (Messiah times) and Dos tsente gebot (The Tenth Commandment); Perlmutter orchestrated and reworked Goldfaden's collected musical numbers and composed new ones for his productions. He then toured with the Treytler and Yuvelir troups throughout Galitsia, Romania (1893-1895) and Russia (1899). From Chernovitz, Bukovina, in 1900 Professor Moyshe Horvitz (Hurwitz) took the whole troop to America.
Perlmutter met his longtime collaborator Herman Wohl
in New York's Windsor Theater and they wrote for dozens of Hurwitz's operettas as well as Di Almoneh (The Widow) and A mentsh zol men zayn (One should be a righteous person) by Anshel Shor. In 1906 Perlmutter and Wohl composed the music for a romantic drama in English, The Shepherd King; in 1909, Boris Thomashefsky
's Dos Pintele Yid and Di sheyne Amerikanerin; and for scores of other historical operettas of the Second Avenue Yiddish theaters through the early years of the twentieth century.
After the partnership dissolved Perlmutter worked alone, composing for Morris Schwartz's production in 1920 of I. L. Peretz's Goldene keyt (Golden chain). In 1922 he contracted with the Lennox Theater in the Bronx (directors Nathan Goldberg and Jacob Jacobs). He wrote the music for dozens of productions until he retired from theater in 1930.
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...
, born in Zlotshev, Galitsia, moved to Lemburg where he received both a religious and a secular education in Polish, Ukrainian, and German. Sang with then-famous hazzan
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
Borekh Shor's chorus until his voice changed, then became a klezmer, playing bass and then violin and directing and composing for the Harmonia orchestra, which in 1889 was taken into I. B. Gimpel's Yiddish theater in Lemburg; he wrote the music for the operetta Rabbi Akiva and his students. and Der Spanisher Tsigayner (The Spanish Gypsy).
In 1891 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...
came to Lemburg to stage his Meshiakh tsaytn (Messiah times) and Dos tsente gebot (The Tenth Commandment); Perlmutter orchestrated and reworked Goldfaden's collected musical numbers and composed new ones for his productions. He then toured with the Treytler and Yuvelir troups throughout Galitsia, Romania (1893-1895) and Russia (1899). From Chernovitz, Bukovina, in 1900 Professor Moyshe Horvitz (Hurwitz) took the whole troop to America.
Perlmutter met his longtime collaborator Herman Wohl
Herman Wohl
Herman Wohl Born in Otinya near Stanislavov, eastern Galicia. He was raised in a Chasidic home and studied with cantors from the age of 9. He soon began composing, directing choirs, and singing as a Hazzan himself...
in New York's Windsor Theater and they wrote for dozens of Hurwitz's operettas as well as Di Almoneh (The Widow) and A mentsh zol men zayn (One should be a righteous person) by Anshel Shor. In 1906 Perlmutter and Wohl composed the music for a romantic drama in English, The Shepherd King; in 1909, Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre; born in Tarashcha , a shtetl near Kiev, Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1881...
's Dos Pintele Yid and Di sheyne Amerikanerin; and for scores of other historical operettas of the Second Avenue Yiddish theaters through the early years of the twentieth century.
After the partnership dissolved Perlmutter worked alone, composing for Morris Schwartz's production in 1920 of I. L. Peretz's Goldene keyt (Golden chain). In 1922 he contracted with the Lennox Theater in the Bronx (directors Nathan Goldberg and Jacob Jacobs). He wrote the music for dozens of productions until he retired from theater in 1930.