Newspaper Page Text
Adventures of
Two Troubadours
(This is the second of tu'o articles on eight years of Jew
ish music in America.—The Editoh.
Satan nal) illornimj iXctoiS
SAVANNAH EVENING PRESS
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
by Susie Michael Friedman
The elevation of Jewish music to
the level of the dignified concert
stage has been aided, in great
measure, by the organization three
years ago of the Jewish Music
Council, composed of representa
tives of 52 national Jewish organi
zations and sponsored by the Na
tional Jewish Welfare Board. The
purposes of the Council are two
fold; to stimulate interest in Jew
ish music and to elevate the stand
ards of such concerts.
The Council's activities started
with a Jewish Music Week in 1945
and 1940. In 1947 this observance
was enlarged to a full month. Par
ticular emphasis was placed on
stimulating Jewish music programs
in Community Centers, Synagogues
and YMHA’s throughout the coun
try, as well as in local symphony
and orchestras and radio progams.
As sponsors for such programs,
you, the “Y" directors, Rabbis and
program chairmen drawn from all
walks of life, have certain real re
sponsibilities. In addition to the
consummate artistry of the artists
you engage, there are three funda
mental necessities for you to se
cure to insure a successful concert:
a moden, well-ventilated audito
rium with adequate stage lighting,
a properly tuned grand piano (not
a box that came with Noah in his
ark) and a sizeable, well-dis
ciplined audience. Denied any one
of these three, not even a Heifetz
or Horowitz can give a 100 percent
successful concert.
Fortunately with the knowing
aid provided by the JWB and the
Music Council, such a pleasant ar
rangement is fast becoming the
rule, rather than the exception as
it was in my childhood. And let
me admonish that no community,
no matter how limited its Jewish
population, need feel it is too small
to present a Jewish cultural eve
ning. As a matter of fact, some of
the most successful arrangements
have been made in tiny towns
whereas larger cities are often the
worst offenders.
As testimony, I cite a tiny
town in Montana whose total Jew
ish community numbered exactly
twenty-five families, where we had
one of the most elaborate and
beautifully arranged concerts of
our entire careers. This handful of
Jews selected the State Teachers’
Normal School auditorium and pro
vided an audience of 600, including
almost all the local Christian min
isters, civic, social and intellectual
leaders, thus utilizing the evening
as a tremendous factor in the cause
of creating good will in the com
munity.
Our wartime experiences cre
ated in us a great faith that our
people really crave more knowl
edge and more fine experience
with Jewish music. Our tours of
the army camps and later the army
hospitals brought us questions
from the servicemen who would
mob us following each perform
ance, and each interrogation would
betray a homesickness for the cul
tural ties that were served so in
frequently in their new lives.
However, we were pleased to
notice the frequency with which
our programs reached out to the
hearts of non-Jewish servicemen as
well. A Christian chaplain in a
camp in Utah last year surprised
us with the request that we bring
the program to his city. He ex
plained that as a Protestant minis
ter in a small western town he oc
casionally spoke at functions given
by the Jewish community, which
was too small to employ a rabbi.
He stressed , however, that he
would like his own congregation to
hear our program as well.
“You see, I happen to be the kind
of Christian who knows we can't
live together in harmony without
understanding each other’s cul
tures.’’
We must not lose sight, however,
of the tremendous need for this
harmony among our own people,
and I cite as a case in point the
following incident which we en
countered in a huge hospital in
South Carolina.
A pretty young WAC greeted us
at the Red Cross auditorium, and
firmly announced that she had de
cided upon a “slight change” in our
program—"Instead of singing Jew
ish songs you are to sing in Rus
sian, Spanish, Italian, French and
so forth.” Her reason was that
none of the boys would understand
the Jewish songs! When pressed as
to how many would understand
the languages she mentioned, she
admitted somewhat defiantly that
she had made the change because
"as far as I know there are only
two of us here who know Hebrew
or Yiddish, the chaplain and my
self . . . and if you must know,
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The Southern Israelite
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