Shmuel Fershko (Stanisław Ferszko, Samuel Fersko, also Fereszko; 1914–1990) was a Polish composer and musician.
Born in Łuck, he was a child prodigy on the piano in Warsaw and then went to
Warsaw Conservatory. At the age of 23 he composed the operetta ''Polowanie na lamparta (The Leopard Hunt)'' first performed in Warsaw in the theatre ''8.30'', later in Vienna under the name ''Salzburg Ausverkauft''. He worked at the ''Heyman-Front Jazz'' dance band (orchestra led by
Zygmunt Heyman and
Julian Front
Julian Front (''Fronte Giuliano'', FG) was a regionalist political party active in the Province of Trieste, Italy.
Formed in the mid 1990s, the party strived for the independence of Trieste from Italy (through the return to the Free Territory of ...
) and as a piano soloist in the ''Paradis, Krzywa latarnia (Crooked Lantern)'' and ''F.F.'' nightclubs.
[Isaschar Fatar, Jewish Music in Poland Between the Two World Wars]
He composed for and accompanied the stage
diseuses of the late 1930s: Wiera Gran, Nadieżda Bielicz and Waria Łaska. Some of his greatest hits were ''Bo to się zwykle tak zaczyna (That's How It Usually Begins), Gdy odejdziesz (When You're Gone)'' and ''Maleńka (My Tiny Gal)''.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO5iIXa0j-I Biographical notes below song]
In 1937 he moved to Palestine and played in the Tel Aviv ''Matate'' theater, as well as ''Li-La-Lo'' and ''Ohel''. Known as "The Israeli
Gershwin," he was very popular in then-Palestine and later Israel. Many think his songs ''Beb el Wad, Jeep'' and ''Moti'' are folksongs.
[Tomasz Lerski, Encyklopedia Kultury Polskiej XX Wieku, Muzyka-Teatr-Film, , Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowo-Encyklopedyczne, 2008]
In 1952 he was hired by NBC to go to America where he composed tunes, musicals, operettas and directed the NY Symphony Orchestra. He died 1990 in Florida.
References
External links
* , words by
Emanuel Schlechter
Emanuel Schlechter (pseudonyms Eman, Olgierd Lech) (Emanuel Szlechter) (9 October 1904 – 1943) was born and died in Lwów. He was a Polish-Jewish artist, lyricist, screenwriter, librettist, writer, satirist, translator, composer and director. ...
, 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fershko, Shmuel
1914 births
1990 deaths
Jewish composers
Jewish songwriters
Polish composers
20th-century Polish Jews