Abraham "Abe" Elenkrig ( yi, אברהם עלענקריג, September 15, 1878 – January 8, 1965) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

-born American

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

bandleader,

Cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

player, barber and recording artist of the early twentieth century. He was among the earliest bandleaders to record klezmer music in the United States, making a series of discs for

Victor Recording Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

from 1913 to 1915. In 2009, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

named his 1913 recording ''Fon der Choope (From the Wedding)'' to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

Biography

Early life

Elenkrig was born in

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha ( uk, Золотоноша , yi, זאלאטאנאשא) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts th ...

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

on September 15, 1878 (although some sources say 1877). He descended from a

family of professional Jewish musicians, and it seems that other musicians from his family emigrated to New York and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

at around the same time. His father, Joseph Elenkrieg, was the head of he family orchestra in Europe and later emigrated to the United States as well. Abe married his wife Tamara while still living in Russia; their first son Max was born there. Abe apparently emigrated to the United States in 1904 or possibly 1906, sailing from

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

to New York City. If he did leave in 1906 it may have been a result of the October 1905

Pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

in Zolotonosha which seriously devastated the Jewish population there.

Career

For most of his career, Elenkrig seems to have supported himself by working as a barber. However, today he is remembered especially for his pioneering

music recordings made for

and

starting in 1913. Although he was a contemporary of other Ukrainian-born klezmer recording artists of the era, including

Joseph Frankel Lieutenant Joseph Frankel (1882-1956) was an American klezmer musician, clarinetist and military band bandleader of the early 20th century. Biography Early life Frankel was born in Kyiv, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire on October 19, 1882. He ...

Israel J. Hochman Israel J. Hochman ( yi, ישראל האָכמאַן, 1872–1940) was a Russian-born Jewish American violinist, klezmer bandleader, music arranger, and recording artist in early Twentieth Century New York City. He recorded prolifically for Edison ...

and

Joseph Cherniavsky Joseph Cherniavsky ( yi, יוסף טשערניאַװסקי) (c. 1890-1959) was a Jewish American cellist, theatre and film composer, orchestra director, and recording artist. He wrote for the Yiddish theatre, made some of the earliest novelty rec ...

, his recordings predates theirs by a handful of years, and are therefore the earliest large ensemble klezmer recordings made in the United States. Klezmer researcher

Hankus Netsky Hankus Netsky (b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 1955) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist. He chairs the Contemporary Improvisation Department at the New England Conservatory. Netsky is founder and di ...

notes that Columbia Records had been releasing other forms of Jewish music since 1902, and in the early 1910s had invested much more heavily in "ethnic" music and foreign-made recordings, and that Jewish dance music records aimed at the large immigrant population was a logical next step. During that era Anton Heindl was in charge of Columbia's "foreign department", often recording abroad, although occasionally with artists such as Elenkrig in the New York area. During 1913, Elenkrig recorded around ten klezmer tracks under the name Elenkrig's Orchestra, which had a brassy and recognizably American sound. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Heindl was forced to turn almost exclusively to talent living in the United States. However, Elenkrig does not seem to have profited from that change as he never recorded with Columbia after 1913. He moved to Victor Records in 1915 and teamed up with

Meyer Kanewsky Meyer Kanewsky ( yi, מאיר קאנעווסקי, between 1878 and 1881? – June 10, 1924) was a cantor, lyric tenor, and recording artist of the early twentieth century. Between 1912 and 1918, he performed, arranged or produced more than 130 side ...

, a

Cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

, singer and conductor who was also from Zolotonasha. Together, they recorded a number of Jewish, Ukrainian, and Russian pieces in 1915, including another round of about 10 brassy klezmer recordings. After 1915, Elenkrig did not record under his own name again, and possibly stopped working as a professional musician in general. Some recordings from 1916 to 1917 released under generic labels as "Jewish" or "Romanian" orchestras are thought to be Elenkrig. Klezmer researcher Joel Rubin states that Elenkrig does not seem to have been a leading or prominent figure in the New York klezmer world, and was not remembered by people he interviewed about that time. Elenkrig died in New York City on January 8, 1965 at the age of 87. He was buried in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in the section set aside by the "Zolotonosher Friends"

Landsmanshaft A landsmanshaft ( yi, לאַנדסמאַנשאַפט, also landsmanschaft; plural: landsmanshaftn) is a mutual aid society, benefit society, or hometown society of Jewish immigrants from the same European town or region. History The Landsmanshaf ...

Legacy

Although his recording career was short, renewed attention was given to Elenkrig's output in the late 1970s during the

Klezmer revival Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

. Recordings of his made it onto a number of klezmer reissue albums, including ''Klezmer music (1910-1927): early Yiddish instrumental music'' (Folklyric, 1983), ''Klezmer music 1910-1942: recordings from the YIVO Archives'' (Global Village, 1986), ''Klezmer pioneers: European and American recordings, 1905-1952'' (Rounder Records, 1993), ''Klezmer!: Jewish music from old world to our world'' (Yazoo, 2000), and ''Cantors, klezmorim, and crooners, 1905-1953 : classic Yiddish 78s from the Mayrent Collection'' (JSP, 2009). To recognize his historical importance as a representative of early Jewish-American music, in 2009, the

named his 1913 recording ''Fon der Choope (From the Wedding)'' to the

References

External links

Elenkrig's Orchestra
audio recordings in the Mayrent Collection at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

Abraham Elenkrig discography
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

* Audio recordings fo
Abe Elenkrig's Yidishe Orchestra
an
Elenkrig's Orchestra
in the

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

Judaica collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Elenkrig, Abe 1878 births 1965 deaths Jewish American musicians Klezmer musicians People from Cherkasy Oblast Victor Records artists Columbia Records artists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American cornetists Barbers Ukrainian Jews