Joseph Feldman portrait from Shichelach score

Joseph Feldman ( yi, יוסף פֿעלדמאַן, 1886–1967), also known as Joe Feldman, was a

Yiddish language Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

, Yiddish Theatre actor, and composer who recorded numerous theatre and comedy songs between 1916 and 1927.

Biography

Early life

Feldman was born in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on September 15, 1886. His parents were Louis and Sarah Feldman; his father was a Glazier. At age 8 he started training with cantors and became a choir soloist, but was already becoming more interested in acting. He emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with his family in June 1900.

Music and acting career

In New York, Feldman soon involved himself in the Yiddish Theatre world, getting his start in a music hall on

Eldridge Street Eldridge Street is a street in Manhattan's Lower East Side and Chinatown, running from Houston Street south to East Broadway. Originally called Third Street according to the numbering system for the Delancey Farm Grid, it was named in 1817 fo ...

which was frequented by many Yiddish actors. By 1905 he already listed his occupation in the census as an actor. He soon made a name for himself and before and during 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 ...

toured with various productions to other cities including

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 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. It was by the end of 1913 that he returned to New York and started his first test recording with a phonograph company, with one of his famous pieces ''Shichelach''. It in 1916 that he started recording many more tracks, first for

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 ...

, but soon also at Brunswick Records,

Emerson Records Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor Emerson in 1915. Victor Hugo Emerson was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then ...

, Victor Records,

Okeh Records Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, Pathé Records, and even for lesser known companies like the Cardinal Phonograph Company. He also apparently composed the music for many of his songs; according to copyright records, he composed roughly 30 pieces, occasionally with the lyrics written by others. Feldman apparently worked as a phonograph salesman during this period as well, spending a period in 1919 and 1920 in Montreal on behalf of the Columbia Graphophone Company along with his wife and son. With the passing of the Immigration Act of 1924 which greatly restricted Jewish immigration from Europe, and then the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

by 1930, the market for Yiddish and klezmer recordings in the United States saw a steep decline, which essentially ended the recording career of many of the popular Yiddish artists of the 1910s and 1920s. Joseph's recording career seems to have ended around then, with a last round of recordings made for Victor Records in 1927. At some point Feldman relocated to

. For a time around 1932 he took over management of the Earle Theatre. His World War Two draft card lists him as living there, still working as an actor. During his career Feldman was a supporter of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

. One of his original compositions copyrighted in the early 1920s was titled "''Palistine lidall'' / Palistine song", and at around the same time his likeness was used to sell scores for another by David Meyerowitz, ''Zion's Liedele''. After the Second World War he also released a song celebrating the creation of the State of Israel called ''Mazel tov Yisroel''. Feldman died on May 18, 1967, in Monterey Park, California.

Family

Joseph's wife was named Lena or Lina (née Carmen). They were married in January 1916. Their first and apparently only child Rachmiel (Ralph) was born in 1917.

References

External links

List of Joseph Feldman recordings
in 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 ...

.
Joseph Feldman recordings
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:Feldman, Joseph Yiddish theatre performers Yiddish-language singers of the United States Jewish singers People from Galați Romanian Jews Moldavian Jews Romanian emigrants to the United States 1886 births 1967 deaths American Zionists