H. Steiner was a klezmer violinist who recorded for two discs of violin and cimbalom duets for the

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the '' His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the Europe ...

in around 1909. Although he had a small musical output and his biography is mostly unknown, his recordings serve an important function for

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 ...

musicians as they are rare examples of recorded European klezmer violin style.

Biography and recorded output

Little is known about Steiner's life, although he is thought to have been from

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

(Lemberg),

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. His recordings are part of a small set of known European klezmer violin recordings from the early 1900s, which also include Josef Solinski, Oscar Zehngut, and Leon Ahl. Steiner's recordings have a more distinctly religious musical element than those other artists and his style is thought to be the pre-twentieth century Klezmer violin style from Lemberg and Galicia more broadly. His two known records were , which drew on

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

themes, and . His recordings were later reissued in the United States by the

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 ...

. Those versions are listenable on

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

's Judaica collection.

Legacy

The klezmer revival artist and scholar Walter Zev Feldman cited Steiner's recordings as a major inspiration for his work to revive the klezmer

cimbalom The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...

style in the late 1970s. More recently, Feldman has done a deeper musical analysis of the Steiner recordings in his 2016 book ''Klezmer: Music, history, and memory''. As well, the Steiner recordings appeared on a number of klezmer reissue albums in the 1980s and 1990s, including ''Klezmer music (1910-1927): early Yiddish instrumental music'' (Folklyric, 1983), ''Oytsres: Klezmer music 1908-1996.'' (Wergo, 1999), and ''Klassic Klezmer'' (Goldies, 1999). His music has been reinterpreted by Klezmer revival artists such as

Budowitz Budowitz are a klezmer band incorporating 19th century instruments and themes from the folk music of Bessarabia, Galicia and Bukovina, into their music. Its members live in Hungary, Germany and the United States. The band is named after 19th Ce ...

on ''Mother Tongue'' (Koch International, 1997), Khevrisa on ''European Klezmer Music'' ( Folkways, 2000). The Hungarian group

Muzsikás Muzsikás is a Hungarian musical group playing mainly folk music of Hungary and other countries and peoples of the region. Established in 1973, it has also played works by classical composers, especially Béla Bartók, who himself collected folk ...

also reinterpreted one of his pieces on their CD ''Máramaros: Lost Jewish Music of Transylvania'' (Hannibal, 1993).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, H. 19th-century births 20th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Klezmer musicians Jewish violinists Musicians from Lviv