Shaul Berezovsky ( yi, שאול בערעזאָװסקי, he, שאול ברזובסקי, pl, Szaul Berezowski, 1908–1975) was a Polish and Israeli composer, pianist, and music director. He composed music for productions by many of the leading figures of the Polish Yiddish Theatre of the interwar and postwar period, including Shimon Dzigan and Israel Shumacher,

Moishe Broderzon Moishe Broderzon ( yi, משה בראדערזאן, November 23, 1890 — August 17, 1956) was a Yiddish poet, theatre director, and the founder of the Łódź literary society, literary group ''Yung-yidish''. He was born 1890 in Moscow, but his f ...

, and

Ida Kamińska Ida Kamińska (September 18, 1899 – May 21, 1980) was a Polish actress and director. Known mainly for her work in the theatre, she was the daughter of Avrom Yitshok Kaminski (Abraham Isaac Kaminski) and Ester Rachel Kamińska ( Halpern), k ...

. He was also well-known as a choir director and arranger.

Biography

Early life

Berezovsky was born in

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

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. ...

(today located in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

) on 5 June 1908. He was born into a family of musicians; his grandfather was a

Hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...

in Skidzyelʹ (a town near Grodno) and his father, Shraga-Fayvl Berezovsky, was a well known choir director and music teacher in Grodno. One of his earliest musical instructors was his own father, and after briefly studying the violin he was sent in 1916 to a local piano teacher in Grodno named Lilia Fidelman. Shaul's older brother Lyolye also became a pianist, studying at the Leipzig Conservatory and later becoming an instructor in Greece and then Israel. From 1926–29 Shaul studied at the Warsaw Conservatory in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Shaul Berezovsky and friend Stanislavsky from Lider bukh

Music career

After finishing his schooling, he relocated to

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

, where he began to work as a Yiddish Theatre accompanist, directed the orchestra at the Apollo, and had a jazz band in the military. He also started to write music for theatre troupes such as ''Ararat''. However, when his mother fell ill, he returned to Grodno and became a pianist in a silent film theatre for a time. During this time he also toured with Yiddish theater companies, directing the orchestras or as a piano accompanist. Berezovsky's younger brother Israel was killed in a

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 Grodno in July 1935; he was 21 years old at the time. As the war approached, Shaul was drafted into the Polish army, being stationed in the 42nd infantry based in Białystok. During that time he organized an army string ensemble, and was also permitted leave at night to supplement his income by playing in ensembles in cafes. He remained in Białystok after the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

, and the city soon saw an influx of Yiddish theatre figures fleeing the German invasion of other Polish cities. Among them were Shimon Dzigan and Israel Shumacher, who became regular collaborators with Berezovsky. They performed in the Soviet Union during the war in a state-supported troupe called the , directed by

; of course, the troupe had to adhere to Soviet censorship standards and could not criticize the regime in their comedy skits. The troupe managed to stage two full shows in 1940: (Singing and Dancing) and (Raisins and Almonds). The troupe was in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

at the moment of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The troupe fled first to

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine. After that Berezovsky became accompanist and arranger for the actor Anna Guzik, a position he held until the end of the war. During this period he also married his wife Regina (née Goldberg). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many Polish Jews were repatriated from the Soviet Union to Poland, and after a brief time in Krawkow, Berezovsky and his wife settled in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. At first he made his living playing in cafes, but he soon became an important figure in the revival of Jewish culture there in the city, which was rapidly becoming the centre of postwar Jewish life in Poland. A Yiddish Theatre with state support was founded under the direction of Ida Kaminska, who had recently returned from the Soviet Union as well; Berezovsky composed for it, in addition to running a folk choir and composing for films. He also directed the Russian-language ''Kalinka'' choir. Dzigan and Shumacher were also permitted to leave the Soviet Union and they returned to Poland and began to collaborate with Berezovsky again. During the following years Berezovsky was especially known for his ambitious and successful choral productions. In 1950, he appealed to Polish authorities to emigrate to Israel, but it was denied. He was only permitted to do so in 1957 where he continued to work in Yiddish and Hebrew theater. He wrote music for theater and cinema (including the play and film adaptation of Abraham Goldfaden's with Mike Burstyn, 1963), worked with Dzigan and Shumacher again, and conducted various orchestras. He died on 2 April 1975 in Tel Aviv. Shortly after his death an anthology of his choral arrangements was published under the title (Songbook). A number of his compositions are still performed today. These include (under the ruins of Poland, an adaptation of an

Itzik Manger Itzik Manger (30 May 1901, Czernowitz, then Austrian-Hungarian Empire – 21 February 1969, Gedera, Israel; yi, איציק מאַנגער) was a prominent Yiddish language, Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, a ...

poem), (I am tired, also a Manger poem), (adapted from a

Mordechai Gebirtig Mordechai Gebirtig ( yi, מרדכי געבירטיג), born Mordecai Bertig (4 May 1877 – 4 June 1942), was an influential Polish poet and songwriter of the interwar period. He was shot by Germans in the Kraków Ghetto, occupied Poland, during t ...

poem), (Grandfather's tune), and (By the river, adaptation of a Mani Leib poem).

References

External links

Lider bukh
a book of Berezovsky's Yiddish-language choir music in the digital library of the Yiddish Book Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Berezovsky, Shaul 1975 deaths 1908 births Jewish cabaret performers Polish cabaret performers Jewish composers Jewish songwriters 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century comedians Yiddish theatre performers People from Grodno Polish pianists