Shimon Shteynberg ( uk, Семен Наумович Штейнберґ; yi, שמעון שטיינבערג; alternative Latinized spelling: ''Simon Steinberg''; 21 June 1887,

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 ...

– 20 July 1955,

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and a music director of the Ukrainian State Jewish Theatre.

Biography

Shteynberg was born in

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family of modest means. He started playing

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

at an early age being first taught by his stepfather, a renowned local wedding toast-master and

fiddler A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Although in many ...

, and later by M. Chait in Karl Lagler's Music School. After working in city's theatre orchestras for several years, he was accepted into a newly founded Odessa Conservatoire where he studied composition under

Witold Maliszewski Witold Maliszewski (russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, uk, Вітольд Йосифович Малішевський; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a profes ...

. Upon graduation in 1919 Shteynberg continued composing, contributing to various theatres in Ukraine. He became music director and a major composer of the Ukrainian Jewish Theater since its inception in

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.Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(there theatre was popularly known as ''Kiev GOSET''), and later in

, until its liquidation in 1949, at the height of Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign. In his latter years he taught in Chernivtsi Music College.

Compositions

Shteynberg composed music to more than 150 plays, including “

Tevye the Milkman Tevye the Dairyman, also translated as Tevye the Milkman ( yi, טבֿיה דער מילכיקער, ''Tevye der milkhiker'' ) is the fictional narrator and protagonist of a series of short stories by Sholem Aleichem, and various adaptations of th ...

”, “ Wandering Stars”, ”

Stempenyu Stempenyu ( yi, סטעמפּעניו, 1822–79) was the popular name of Iosif Druker (), a klezmer violin virtuoso, bandleader and composer from Berdychiv, Russian Empire. He was one of a handful of celebrity nineteenth century Jewish folk violin ...

” by

Shalom Aleichem ''Shalom aleichem'' (; he, שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם, ; ) is a spoken greeting in Hebrew, meaning " peace be upon you". The appropriate response is ("unto you peace") ( he, עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם). The plural form "" is used eve ...

,”Favourful people” after

Mendele Mocher Sforim Mendele Mocher Sforim ( yi, , he, מנדלי מוכר ספרים, also known as Moykher, Sfarim; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 .S. Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich ( yi, , russian: Сол ...

, ”Uprising in

Ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

” by

Peretz Markish Peretz Davidovich Markish ( yi, פּרץ מאַרקיש ) (russian: Перец Давидович Маркиш) (7 December 1895 (25 November OS) – 12 August 1952) was a Russian Jewish poet and playwright who wrote predominantly in Yiddish. ...

, ”In fire” by M.Daniel, ”Russian People” by

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (russian: link= no, Константин Михайлович Симонов, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent, arguabl ...

, ”

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

”, “

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

” by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

etc. Along with

Lev Pulver Lev Mikhaylovich Pulver (Yiddish pronunciation: Leib Pulver, yi, לייב פּולווער, European spelling: Leo Pulver, russian: link=no, Пульвер, Лев Михайлович), was a Russian-Jewish musician. He was born on in Verkhn ...

and Lev Yampolsky, he was one of the major contributors to the bulk of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

for Jewish theatres of the former USSR. Shteynberg was also a prolific writer of

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, and

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

tunes by peoples of Jewish,

, Kazakh, Uzbek and other origins. His music, rooted into a late-romantic tradition of the turn of the 20th century as well as Jewish

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 ...

ial and

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 ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

, was recognized for its beauty, expressivity, compositional depth and sophistication. However, it fell into obscurity due to decades-long attitude of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities toward everything Jewish. In December 1987 the Music College of Chernivtsi commemorated his 100th

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...

with an evening of his music, which was warmly received by the public. There are no known

audio recordings Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...

of his music available.

References

* Soviet composers - concise biographical directory, Moscow, Sovetskiy kompozitor, 1957, page 669 (in Russian) * T. Shklover. Anniversary of a Jewish composer,

Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджа́н, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; yi, ביראָבידזשאַן, ''Birobidzhan'') is a town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near th ...

Birobidzhaner Shtern The ''Birobidzhaner Shtern'' (Yiddish: ; russian: Биробиджанер Штерн ''Birobidžaner Štern''; "The Birobidzhan Star") is a newspaper published in both Yiddish and Russian in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast of Russia. It was set up ...

, issue 6, 1988 (in Yiddish) * Moisei Love. Music was his life, New York City, ”Di Tsukunft” (magazine), volume 1, 1991 (in Yiddish) * Russian Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 3, Moscow, Epos, 1997, page 426 (in Russian) * Moisei Love. Stolen muse, Kyiv, Dukh i litera, 2004 (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shteynberg, Shimon 1887 births 1955 deaths Soviet composers Soviet male composers Yiddish-language music Jewish Ukrainian musicians