Portrait of Lipa Feingold from cover of Der Naier Yid score

Lipa Feingold ( yi, ליפּא פײנגאָלד, 1878–1945) was a Russian-born American songwriter, pianist, composer, and jeweler. The peak of his popularity as a composer was in the 1920s and 1930s; his pieces were performed by many well-known New York Jewish music figures such as Abe Ellstein,

Yossele Rosenblatt Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (May 9, 1882 – June 19, 1933) was a Ukrainian-born chazzan (cantor) and composer. He was regarded as the greatest cantor of his time. Biography Rosenblatt was born on May 9, 1882, in Bila Tserkva, Russian Empire. T ...

and

Alexander Olshanetsky Alexander Olshanetsky (1892–1946) was a Jewish-American composer, conductor, and violinist. He was a major figure within the Yiddish theatre scene in New York City from the mid-1920s until his death in 1946. Life and career Was born in Odessa ...

, and later by Theodore Bikel and

Leibele Waldman Louis "Leibele" Waldman (June 22, 1907 – August 28, 1969) was a Jewish cantor (“chazzan”), composer and actor, the only American born cantor who may be considered as belonging to the great cantors of the so-called "golden age of jewish cantor ...

Biography

Feingold was born on November 17, 1878, in

Berdychiv Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center ...

, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (today located in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine). His father was a Jeweler. As a youth, Lipa was interested in music and took lessons from the cantor and composer

Nissan Spivak Nissan Spivak (widely known as Nissi Belzer, from Yiddish ''Belts''; 1824–1906) was a Jewish cantor and composer. Career He was cantor in his birthplace of Bălţi (''Beltsy''), Bessarabia, and was generally known as ‘Nisn Beltzer’. L ...

who was at that time living in Berdychiv. In 1903, he married Bessie Braude. They lived in Warsaw for a time. They had their first child Rebecca (Shirley) in Warsaw in 1904. He and Bessie emigrated to the United States in early 1904, sailing from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and initially settling in New York City. They had a second child, Charles, in New York in 1906. When Bessa contracted Tuberculosis in 1907, a doctor recommended that they leave the city and they ended up settling in Denver, Colorado. While living in Denver and mainly supporting himself as a jeweler, he composed Yiddish and English music and would often send them to New York to be published or performed. Feingold also acted on stage in Denver Yiddish theatre productions, and had a solo singing and comedy act where he was occasionally accompanied by his wife who could play violin. Starting in around 1919 he also led a Zionist girls' choir called Hatikvah. He became interested in children's education and became a Sunday school music teacher at B'nai Israel. In 1923, after being invited as a guest soloist (

Baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) at

Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph, known locally as BMH-BJ or simply BMH, and for a period after 2012 also known as The Denver Synagogue, is a Modern Orthodox, Zionist synagogue in Denver, Colorado. History Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol (BMH-the Grea ...

during the High Holidays, he became a regular supporting singer and eventually director of the synagogue's choir. In 1925, Lipa, Bessie and their daughter Shirley left Denver for New York and Lipa began to compose for Tin Pan Alley. Their son Charles stayed in Denver. His compositions, especially 1927's and became popular and he also often worked as an accompanist. His poems or song lyrics were printed in newspaper such as

Der Tog ''Der Tog'' ( en, The Day) was a Yiddish-language daily newspaper published in New York City from 1914 until 1971. The offices of ''Der Tog'' were located on the Lower East Side, at 185 and 187 East Broadway. History The newspaper's first issue ...

and his music was published by the Kammen Brothers. In 1936 he published one of his only book-length set of scores, a book of settings of

Avrom Reyzen Avrom Reyzen (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם רייזען; April 8, 1876 – April 2, 1953), known as Abraham Reisen, was a Yiddish writer, poet and editor, and the elder brother of the Yiddishist Zalman Reisen. Reyzen was born in Koidanov (Minsk, ea ...

poems to music titled (Ten songs). Lipa Feingold portrait 1930s

Lipa Feingold died on October 7, 1945. His personal archive was left with the University of Denver. After his death some of his compositions continued to circulate and appeared on albums by postwar performers such as Theodore Bikel and Leibele Waldman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feingold, Lipa 1878 births 1945 deaths 20th-century American composers Jewish American composers People from Berdychiv Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Yiddish theatre performers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American baritones American conductors (music) Russian conductors (music) American choral conductors Russian choral conductors